


The Perfect Woman

by HartSense26809



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-07-27 09:38:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 32,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16216376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HartSense26809/pseuds/HartSense26809
Summary: Westallen AU, where Barry Allen is a tech company billionaire and Iris West is an award winning author and journalist who meet under unusual circumstances and have the most insane, crazy, hard to believe weekend.





	1. The Auction

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fan fiction work, so please bear with me. I wanted to challenge myself and step out of my comfort zone and do something that I never thought I would have the courage to do.
> 
> This is a pretty crazy story so if you don’t have an imagination this might not be for you. This story is for pure entertainment.

Iris West was feeling really nervous as she stood back stage awaiting her turn. Saying yes three months ago to participate in the annual Central City Carousel Ball sounded like such a good idea. The charity raised money for women and children in crisis and through her work as an investigative journalist Iris knew all too well that Central City was filled with women and children who were abused, neglected and forced to live in terrible situations that were beyond their control. Iris volunteered as much of her time as she could at various shelters and schools and she wrote as many articles as she could shining a light on this ever increasing problem, but Iris West was so selfless with a heart of gold, she always wanted to do more. So here she was doing more. She was getting ready to walk on stage and have a “Date with Iris West” be auctioned off to the highest bidder with all the money going directly to the charity of Iris’ choosing. 

She was watching as her best friend, Linda Park, was currently on stage posing, twirling and blowing kisses to the crowd in her royal blue halter gown with her dark hair styled in a most elegant chignon. This was right up Linda’s alley, she was such a flirt and loved the attention and it certainly was working because the price was already at $4000.00 for a date with Linda Park, that was the highest so far this evening. Iris had all sorts of ideas running through her mind: would she raise a decent amount of money for her charity, would anyone even bid on her, what kind of guy or girl would bid on her, would the person be cute & sweet or a weirdo. She was about to find out, as she snapped out of her thoughts Linda came running off stage and gave her a big hug.

“Can you believe it,” Linda exclaimed excitedly. “That guy, Steve something, just paid $5000.00 for a date with me! Now I have to go get his full name and figure out if he’s a creep,” she said half laughing and half serious.

“Iris don’t look so nervous. It’s really not so bad out there. It goes by really fast,” Linda said reassuringly.

Iris sighed, “I’m just nervous, what if no one bids on a date with me. I’d be so embarrassed.”

Linda pulled Iris into another hug, “Iris, you are an award winning journalist, your book is on the New York Times bestseller list, you’re smart, kind, funny, gutsy and you look so damn good in this red dress there isn’t a man out there that won’t be drooling over you. Now, stand up straight, wet your lips, toss that gorgeous hair over one shoulder and go strut your stuff.”

Iris smiled, hugged Linda and took a breath. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen for our final auction date tonight it’s a woman that really needs no introduction. If you live in Central City and don’t know who Iris West is then you clearly live under a very large rock. She is beautiful, talented, selfless, award winning and has just been named to the Board of Directors at Central City Memorial Hospital. Ladies and Gentlemen, Iris West.”

“Here we go.” Iris walked on stage to arousing applause from the audience. The lights shining on stage were much brighter than she anticipated and that made it hard for her to really see who was in the audience. She was at least able to see the first two rows and when she surveyed those rows she saw a familiar face. It wasn’t that she necessarily knew this person but it was that she had seen this man before, but she couldn’t recall where. But she remembered how much he looked like Idris Elba and that’s the kind of guy you just don’t forget.

Iris shook those thoughts away as bidding got underway. 

“Do I hear $500.00?, “ said the auctioneer.

“$500.00,” shouted a man in the crowd.

“Do I hear $750.00?”

“$750.00,” shouted another man in the crowd.

“Do I hear $1000.00?”

“$1000.00,” shouted a woman in the front row. Iris couldn’t believe how fast this was going and how it seemed to be all different people bidding on a date with her. She had to admit that a part of her was relieved and now with her fingers crossed she was hoping to raise enough money to really make an impact for her charity.

“Do I hear $1500.00?”

“$2000.00,” shouted her Idris Elba doppelgänger, as he smirked at Iris and looked her right in the eye.

Iris tuned the auction out for a minute and racked her brain as to where she had seen this man before. Was it the supermarket, the gym, her publishers building, the Central City Citizen, where did she see him? This was going to frustrate Iris to no end. She prided herself on her ability to pay attention to detail and remember names and faces but she was really stumped here. And whether she wanted to admit it or not, because this was a very presumptuous conclusion she was making, this guy gave her the creeps and her feminine intuition was in overdrive telling her to figure this guy out because she felt he was up to no good.

“Sold! A date with Iris West was won for $20,000.00 by Central City’s very own tech giant Mr. Barry Allen. What a lucky man. Give him hand everyone.” Iris snapped out of her thoughts about the mystery man as she realized the auction was over and someone had paid $20,000.00 for one date with her. And not just anyone but Barry Allen. Iris attempted to maintain her composure as she smiled to the crowd, shook the auctioneers hand, waved at the crowd and walked briskly off stage.

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh,” Iris kept saying is disbelief. “I can’t believe he paid $20,000.00 for one date with me. Either this guy is straight up crazy or he takes his philanthropic endeavors very seriously.” Of course she knew who Barry Allen was, everyone did. If you had a tv, computer, phone or any device then chances were AllenTech had developed it. She had remembered seeing Barry Allen at a gallery opening about six or seven months ago and she thought he was cute but he was so elusive some people had even called him a bit of a recluse. Despite the fact that Iris was the most curious of people she never really wanted to dig deeper into the life of Barry Allen, to her and her instincts he seemed like a fairly normal guy, except for the fact that he is genius and a billionaire. But now Iris was thinking maybe he isn’t so normal. Who pays $20,000.00 for a date with someone they don’t even know, who has a career and life path that is polar opposite of his. I guess she was about to find out.

Iris went to the dressing room that all the ladies had shared that evening. She grabbed her purse and sat down next to Linda who was intently reading on her phone.

“Linda, what are reading,” Iris asked.

Linda looked at her with the biggest smile on her face, “Just confirming that my date isn’t a serial killer, he’s just a venture capitalist. Never mind about me Miss $20,000.00 date with the mysterious Barry Allen. And you were afraid no one was going to bid on you. I told you that red dress made you look incredibly gorgeous,” Linda squealed as she couldn’t contain her excitement.

“Doesn’t it seem odd that he would pay so much money for one date with me?” Iris asked.

“Listen, he’s a billionaire, $20,000.000 to him is like $100.00 to us. Why are you questioning this? You get to have dinner with a rich, handsome guy. At best you have a nice time, at worst the date sucks but he did just basically donate $20,000.00 to your charity. And you never know maybe he could be the next subject of your next article, you said you were looking for a topic, right?” Linda asked.

Iris knew Linda was right. She needed to keep an open mind and see where the night might take her.

“Besides,” Linda smirked, “Maybe this night could turn into a sleepover, you could certainly use one.”

Iris slapped Linda’s arm playfully. Sure, Iris hadn’t dated a man let alone slept with a man in over a year, but she was busy. She had her first book published, then there was the press and book tour. She was a busy woman, accomplishing her goals and dreams, but she certainly wouldn’t mind feeling close to a man again, especially the right kind of man. One that would treat her like she is the most special, precious woman to him. One that would keep her safe and love her to no end. 

“Come on, our dates are waiting,” Linda exclaimed. Iris checked her hair and makeup in the mirror, smoothed down her dress, exhaled her nervous breath and followed Linda out to the ballroom of the hotel where the auction had been held. The ballroom was crowded, there were so many people standing around talking, laughing, drinking. It was a lively room full of good energy and Iris could see many of the men and women that participated in the auction were connecting with their dates.

“Good luck, have fun and get out of your own head,” Linda said as she tightly hugged Iris.

“Be safe. Love you,” Iris said as she waved to Linda and Linda blew her a kiss. Iris watched as Linda’s venture capitalist approached her. He was average height with a bald head, full beard and a red ascot around his neck. He really wasn’t Linda’s type and Iris was sure Linda would have a funny story or two to tell her tomorrow.

Iris was deep in thought as she was people watching looking for Barry Allen as she felt a hand touch her arm. The hand was warm, the right kind of warm, and sent an electric shock through her. Then she heard her name, “Iris West.”

She turned around and there he was, Barry Allen. Tall, much taller than she thought he was, with the most beautiful, crystal clear green eyes she had ever seen. His hair was tousled, his shoulders were broad, and when he grinned at her she couldn’t help but smile back. She had immediate sense of calm with him. She was no longer nervous or worried. She couldn’t explain it but she felt very comfortable next to him and she wanted to find out why. She wanted to know more about Barry Allen.

“Hello, I’m Barry Allen and to my own disbelief I have the great pleasure of taking you on a date tonight, unless you don’t want to go. This must be incredibly awkward and I know you probably agreed to do this to raise money for your charity and if you don’t want to go out with me I will still donate the money to your charity, no problem. As much as I want to go out with you, I want to do what you want, what makes you comfortable and happy. So, Iris West, what do you want to do?” 

Iris looked up at him, appreciating how honest & nervous he was, and out of pure instinct she interlaced her arm through Barry’s, smiled her 1000 watt smile and said, “To spend the evening with you Barry Allen.”

He looked down at her, studied the innate beauty and gracefulness of her face, and smiled. He escorted her out of the hotel ballroom to the limousine that was waiting and Iris hoped that she was in store for an unforgettable evening.

What Iris West didn’t know was that this was the start to an unforgettable weekend.


	2. What A Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. I really appreciate it. 
> 
> Please remember that this fiction is purely for entertainment and some portions of this chapter may not be factually accurate, again please use your imagination.
> 
> This chapter will recount a bit of last chapter from Barry’s POV, then we will proceed with his date with Iris West.
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Barry Allen couldn’t believe it. Iris West had just interlaced her arm with his and they were about to go out on a date together. With his available hand he pinched his thigh just to make sure that this wasn’t some incredible dream, because if you had told him that morning that he would be spending his Friday night in the company of the enchanting Iris West he would have thought you were insane.

 

His Friday morning had started like most of his days. He had a couple of staff meetings first thing, followed by some overseas calls to check on the Asian markets and discuss how AllenTech was looking to expand and diversify abroad. At noon he had a meeting with the mayor, which was out of the ordinary, but Barry concluded that Mayor Singh had another civic project he was hoping to convince Barry that AllenTech should invest in.

 

“Mr. Alllen, so good to see you. Thank you for agreeing to see me on such short notice,” Mayor Singh said as he extended his hand to shake Barry’s.

 

“Always happy to see you Mayor and please call me Barry. Now what can I do for you,” Barry said as he gestured for Mayor Singh to sit and offered him a glass of water.

 

“Well, Barry, as you know tonight is our annual Carousel Ball and auction and unfortunately Dr. Harrison Wells had to drop out last minute, so we are short an eligible bachelor to auction a date off with.”

 

Barry shifted in his seat because he already knew where this conversation was heading and Barry wanted no part of standing on a stage in front of hundreds people and feeling more socially awkward than he felt all the time. He was always happy to be a part of any charity endeavors but this was way out of his comfort zone. He was more of the silent benefactor, private donor type.

 

“Let me stop you right there,” Barry said. “As flattered as I am to be considered a viable & appealing option for your auction I have to say no.”

 

“But Barry,” Singh said in a desperate tone, “We could really use your support. You are the most eligible bachelor in Central City and people are absolutely intrigued by you. They want to get to know you and that would translate into big auction dollars which would go to a charity of your choice.”

 

The Mayor made a compelling argument and Barry felt pangs of guilt that he wasn’t helping, but he just couldn’t put himself on display like that. “What if I stopped by the Ball for a little while, shook some hands, took some photos and made a donation. Would that help,” Barry asked?

 

Mayor Singh studied Barry’s earnest face and concluded that was as good as he was going to get from Barry today. “Having Barry Allen there in some capacity is better than not at all. Ball starts at 6pm, auction is at 8pm and I hope you’ll be ready to write a big, fat check,” Mayor Singh said with a chuckle in his voice and a smile on his face. “I appreciate you doing what you can. Here is a program of tonight’s activities and a list of the ladies who are auctioning off dates. Maybe there is a lady there that might catch your fancy.” Mayor Singh extended his hand to shake Barry’s, bid him goodbye and left the AllenTech offices.

 

Barry placed the brochure on his desk, sat down and took in the view from his high rise office. Not only could he see the bustling city below but he could also see the water off in the distance. The water was so calm and blue and the way the sun reflected off of it made Barry wish he was on his boat taking in the beauty of the day, feeling the warm sun on his face. It made him think of Mayor Singh’s words, “a lady that might catch your fancy”. A lady he might love to take on his boat one day. Barry smiled, there was only one lady that caught his fancy, Iris West.

 

Since the first time he had seen her seven months ago at the gallery opening he had not been able to stop thinking about her. He wanted to see her up close, meet her, talk to her, know what it was like just to be in her presence but fate seemed to be playing a cruel game with him. That first night he saw her he was far too nervous to approach her. He kept trying to tell himself that all he had to do was walk up to her say hello and introduce himself but the bigger, self doubting voice in his head convinced him that she was too far out of his league. She was Iris West after all. So he left that night, filled with regret. The next day he had his head of security and the person he trusted the most, Cisco Ramon, compile a dossier of Iris West. What Barry wanted to know was the basics about her, he hoped one day she would fill in all the special details about herself, and he also wanted to know what her upcoming schedule would be, as to hopefully plan a time when he could possibly see her again. But when he discovered that she was departing on her book tour the next day that would take her from the United States to Canada to South America and then Europe for three months and then when she returned to Central City he would be departing for Asia and the South Pacific to meticulously review new AllenTech inventions and subsidiaries, he realized that they wouldn’t have a chance to meet anytime soon and he was beyond disappointed.

 

That was seven months ago. He had returned from the Far East that Monday and had been playing catch up at the office all week. Now that things were finally getting back to his usual routine he was hoping that he could find a way to meet the woman he was still thinking about. He looked at his phone to check the time and he realized he had to finish at the office and start to get organized for the appearance he would have to make tonight at the Carousel Ball. He picked up the program of the Ball’s activities that Mayor Singh had left behind and began to review it to see when might be the best time he could slip in and slip out with as little fanfare as possible, when he saw her name. “Iris West,” Barry muttered. He couldn’t believe it. Iris was one of the ladies that was auctioning off a date. He grinned from ear to ear shaking his head. As luck would have it, not only would he know exactly where Iris was going to be tonight but he also had the perfect opportunity to possibly have a date with her. Forget luck, forget possibilities, Barry Allen was going to win that date with Iris West tonight and nothing and no one was going to stop him.

 

So here he was escorting Iris into the waiting limousine hoping that she didn’t notice how nervous he was or how his hands were ever so slightly shaking.

 

“So,” Iris said as she positioned herself to look directly at Barry.

 

“So,” Barry said as he positioned himself to look at his shoes. He just knew that if he looked directly at her, sitting that close to her, she was going to see the redness in his cheeks and the nervousness in his eyes.

 

“So, I’m just going to get this out of the way before we even start the date. $20,000.00 Barry,” Iris said in a high pitch, incredulous tone. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m very flattered, but that’s a lot of money to pay for just one date with me.”

 

Barry laughed, what Iris didn’t know was that Barry would have paid ten times that for a chance to be alone with her and get to know her better. But he didn’t feel like he could tell her that so soon. “Well, it was for a good cause. I think the work you do with women and children in crisis is so admirable and so important,” he said as he finally turned to look at her beautiful face. He was right, her beauty overwhelmed him and he went back to looking at his shoes.

 

“You’re familiar with the work I do,” she asked?

 

“You’re very well known in Central City, Iris. I think everyone is familiar with the causes you support and champion,” Barry remarked and he also thought it probably wasn’t the right time to divulge that he had dossier about her that did describe much of her charity work.

 

Iris didn’t say anything immediately she just sat there, studied him and made her assessment. For a tech genius & billionaire he was so shy & nervous. The tips of his ears were red, he kept rubbing his hands on the top of his thighs and he had only looked at her once, he seemed utterly preoccupied with his shoes. She thought maybe she could try a bit of teasing to distract his nervous energy. “So you basically just bid that much money to find a fancy way to donate to my charity that would impress all of Central City, it had nothing to do with me. You probably don’t even want to go on this date, do you? Listen, just drop me off back at the ballroom, we will forget about this date and pretend this night never happened,” Iris said in her most matter of fact voice.

 

Barry turned and cocked his head so fast to look at Iris she was afraid he might have whiplash. The look on his face was priceless. It was a combination of a sad puppy and a confused little boy and all Iris could do was laugh at how utterly sweet he looked. “Barry I’m just kidding. I’m sorry. You seem nervous or uncomfortable and I was just trying to lighten your mood,” she said as reached out and touched his forearm. “I’m sorry.”

 

Barry immediately relaxed and started to laugh. “You had me going there for a minute Iris West. Are you sure you want to go on this date?”

 

“Never more sure of anything,” Iris said as she stared deeply into his eyes.

 

“Good, because I can’t think of anywhere else in the entire world I’d rather be than right here next to you,” Barry stared back at Iris getting lost in the beauty of her face and the deep, rich seduction of her eyes. They stayed staring at each other getting lost in one another when Iris’ phone rang. She reluctantly looked down to find her phone her purse, it was Linda, she didn’t necessarily want to pick up but maybe Linda was in trouble on her date and she needed Iris. “I’m sorry I need to get this,” Iris said apologetically. Barry shook his head, no problem, and took that opportunity to stare at her. Yes he was going to stare at her like a creeper but he couldn’t help himself. Iris West had a reputation for being as tough as nails but the Iris West sitting next to him was so soft and sweet. He had no doubt that as a journalist she had to be intrepid and determined but her cute and funny disposition tonight was putting him at ease. He was starting to relax, feel more comfortable and that was making him even more excited for the night ahead.

 

“We’re here Mr. Allen, said Barry’s driver.

 

“Thank you Kevin. I will help Miss West out of the car. Why don’t you go get yourself something to eat, we should probably be a couple of hours” Barry said, hopeful that his time estimate would be the least amount of time he would spend with Iris.

 

“Thank you Mr. Allen.”

 

Barry sat and waited for Iris to get off the phone, her smile and laugh were contagious and he realized that he wanted to be the one that made her smile and laugh, hopefully she would give him the chance.

 

“I’m sorry about that,” Iris said and smiled. “That was my friend Linda telling me that her date is going so well that she is on her way to Starling City for the weekend. Are we here? I thought we were eating at Il Mulino,” Iris asked thoroughly intrigued.

 

“Slight change of plan. I thought you might enjoy dining with a panoramic view of Central City so I got us a reservation at the Penthouse Grill. I hope that’s okay?”

 

Iris reached for his hand. “This is an amazing surprise. This is the most exclusive restaurant in Central City, it takes months to get a reservation. How did you pull this off,” Iris tilited her head and asked Barry. Barry looked down at Iris’s hand on top of his. He loved her touch so much already. He took her small hand in his and held it as he helped her out of the limo. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out. You’re the investigative journalist after all,” he said as he looked down at her and gently pushed a piece of her hair away from her face. Iris leaned into his touch and was so happy that he finally seemed to be relaxing.

 

They walked hand in hand to the Penthouse Towers and took the elevator to the top floor where the Penthouse Grill was located. As they walked down the ivy lined corridor to the restaurant Iris was looking at Barry. She still couldn’t quite believe how absolutely comfortable she felt with him. She had of course heard those stories of people meeting for the first time and feeling like they had known each other all their lives but Iris never thought that would be her. She was too curious, and let’s be honest, too suspicious to every think she could have that immediate sense of ease with someone, but she was wrong. Here she was with this tall, handsome man and she couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so content and at ease.

 

As Iris was staring and lamenting over Barry and as he was finishing up a quick text message she didn’t notice one of the restaurant employees walking directly towards her and she bumped right into him. She spilled her purse all over the floor and everyone bent down to gather her belongings and exchange apologies with each other. Iris was quite embarrassed and hoped Barry hadn’t realized that the reason she was so clumsy was because she was staring at him.

 

As Iris and Barry entered the restaurant and Iris was taken aback by the beauty of it. Every table had beautiful floral arrangements on them, soft candlelight gave the restaurant an incredibly romantic ambiance but Iris quickly notice that there was no one in the restaurant.

 

“Barry this is so beautiful but there’s no one in here. What’s going on,” she asked as she looked up at him with curiosity in her eyes.

 

“I wanted to make sure that we had enough privacy and quiet to really get to know one another, so I bought out the entire restaurant. I hope you don’t mind, but I want you all to myself,” Barry said as he very carefully and very lightly placed his hand on the small of Iris’ back. He knew he was taking a big risk by buying out the restaurant before he even knew if he would have a date with Iris and he knew it would be quite costly to pay for all the food & drinks for the existing reservations the restaurant had to reschedule to accommodate his plan but he knew Iris would be worth it.

 

“It’s perfect,” Iris cooed to him as she followed the white rose petals that led a path to their table. Barry pulled out her chair and made sure she was comfortable and then sat across from her.

The waiter came over took their drink orders and gave them their menus. Iris perused the menu and Barry perused Iris. He watched as her eyes moved from item to item and he was trying to remember the last time he felt such happiness and such anticipation all at the same time.

 

“I can feel your eyes on me Barry Allen,” Iris said as she didn’t have to look up to just know he was watching her. Barry laughed and said “Guilty, you’re too beautiful not to look at all the time.”

 

“You should decide what you want to order before the waiter comes back.”

 

“Are you in a hurry for this date to be over?” Barry questioned her with a trace of actual worry in his voice.

 

“Of course not, but I want to get the ordering out of the way so we can really talk,” Iris said with such conviction.

 

“What may I get for you two this evening,” the waiter asked and Iris wondered if that continental accent was real.

 

“I’m going to have the chopped salad and pan seared chicken. May I have the dressing on the side and can you please make sure there is nothing peanut or peanut related in my food I have a terrible allergy.”

 

“Of course Miss West I will make sure your requests are honored and for you Mr. Allen?”

 

“I’ll have the fillet mignon with the baby potatoes, asparagus and hollandaise sauce.”

 

“Very good sir. It won’t be long to prepare your food as you are our only guests tonight. May I suggest you take a tour of the terrace and take in the beauty of Central City at night,” the waiter said then disappeared into the kitchen.

 

“Shall we,” Barry asked as he extended his hand for Iris to take. She looked up at him, smiled, took his hand and walked with him out to the terrace. The night was beautiful. The lights over the city were truly majestic and just as Iris was about to comment on the chill in the air Barry was already placing his jacket around her shoulders. Iris couldn’t believe it. It was as if Barry read her mind, anticipated her need. Could they really be that connected already?

 

“Barry, tell me something you’ve never told anyone else before,” Iris asked. She wanted to know everything about him. Not just the peripheral information or boring minutiae but the deep details that made him the man he was. What he loved, what hated, what he ached for, what he cried about, what made him tick, everything.

 

Barry had quite a few things he never told anyone. Some things were so painful he was scared to recount them to anyone, other things were so embarrassing that he shuttered at the thought of reliving them. But standing just inches away from Iris where he could feel her warmth breath tickle his neck he felt safe and secure, even quite confident. He knew whatever he shared with her would stay between them and never go anywhere else. So he smiled and said, “When I was younger I was painfully shy and awkward and my mom was always worried about me. So during the summer before I started high school she enrolled me in theater camp as a way to help me come out of my shell.”

 

“What!? So you were performing, singing and dancing? Did you love it? Were you any good? I bet you were such a cutie pie,” Iris exclaimed absolutely thrilled with this new bit of information about Barry.

 

“Well at first it was really difficult, like I cried and wanted to go home everyday for the first two weeks. But then one of the teachers cast me in the role of Aladdin. To this day I’m not sure why she did but the more I became engrossed in the role the more comfortable I became. I felt a part of something, connected to something, it gave me a confidence I had never had before. Being in that role didn’t cure all my shyness or anxiety but it helped me realize that I had an inner strength and an ability to accomplish things even when I was scared or doubtful.”

 

“It opened up a whole new world to you, didn’t it,” Iris asked with a gleam in her eye.

 

Barry knew exactly what she had done and what she was asking for. He caressed her cheek and sang,

“A whole new world  
That’s where we’ll be  
Were we will be  
A thrilling chase  
A wondrous place  
For you and me”

 

Iris was absolutely mesmerized. Never would she have guessed that this billionaire would have such an incredible voice. “You know Barry, I think that’s supposed to be a duet,” Iris teased.

 

“Maybe you’ll sing it with me one day,” he said as he stepped closer to Iris and wrapped his arm around her waist. He stared into her eyes and then he stared at her lips and he slowly moved to kiss her, but

 

“Mr. Allen dinner is served,” the waiter said.

 

Barry rested his forehead on Iris’ and they both exhaled and smiled. “I guess we have something to look forward to,” Iris said hoping that she was playing it cool enough that Barry couldn’t see how incredibly disappointed she was. It was unlike her, she never moved very quickly on a first date, but after only being with Barry for an hour she had no doubt that she wanted him to kiss her. Maybe it was good that dinner was ready, she needed a minute to collect herself.

 

Barry escorted Iris back to the table, took his jacket from her shoulders, put it back on and they began to eat. Their conversation flowed wonderfully as they laughed and talked about anything and everything. About half way through the meal Iris started to feel a bit strange. She started to cough and her throat was becoming incredibly dry and scratchy. Barry looked at her concerned. She tried to drink water but the feelings were gettting worse. She stared strongly coughing and sweating.

 

“Oh my God Iris, what is it, what’s wrong,” Barry asked his fear growing more and more.

 

It was hard for Iris to talk through the coughing but she managed to say, “Allergic reaction, epi pen in purse.”

 

Barry scrambled for Iris’ purse and emptied the contents on the floor next to where Iris was now laying. He couldn’t find the epi pen, it wasn’t there.

 

“Hey, call 911 NOW tell them there is a young woman going into anaphylactic shock and we can’t find her epi pen. Tell them to hurry,” Barry yelled to the waiter.

 

“Iris, the epi pen isn’t in your purse are you sure you had it with you,” Barry asked growing more panicked but trying to stay calm for Iris. She was having a hard time talking through her convulsions and coughing so she reached for Barry to pull him closer to her. She whispered, “When my purse spilled before maybe there.”

 

Barry nodded to Iris, he understood. “Come here and stay with her, don’t leave her side I’ll be right back,” Barry said in a stern tone to the waiter then he ran out to the corridor where Iris had dropped her purse. Despite his panic he carefully looked everywhere for the epi pen but it just wasn’t there. He ran back into the restaurant and rushed to Iris’s side. He tried holding her to comfort her but her convulsions were becoming much stronger and she was sweating profusely, he knew she was fading fast. Barry was quickly reviewing his options, his driver was downstairs but the Penthouse Grill was about 25 minutes from the hospital and with traffic it could take longer. They could wait for the ambulance but there was really no telling when they would arrive. They could be too late. He pulled out his phone and called Cisco.

 

“Hey Barry how’s, “ Cisco started to say.

 

“Cisco I’m at the Penthouse Grill and I have a medical emergency, how long would it take for the helicopter to get here?”

 

“Barry what kind of emergency. What’s, “

 

“Cisco it’s not me it’s Iris she’s in anaphylactic shock and I don’t know how much longer she can last. How long for the chopper?”

 

“I’m on it right now, 7 minutes.

 

“Ok, we’ll be on the helipad on the roof. Cisco hurry, please.”

 

Barry placed Iris’s purse in her lap and scooped her up in his arms bridal style. “I’m taking her to the roof to wait for my helicopter to take her to the hospital, if the ambulance should come in the meantime send them to the roof”, Barry instructed the waiter.

 

Barry carried Iris to the elevator and took her to the roof. He looked around and saw no sign of the helicopter yet. He was praying it would get here soon and then he looked down at Iris and that’s when he noticed it. She wasn’t coughing, she wasn’t convulsing, she was still. “No, no, no, no, no, no, Iris, no,” Barry called out to her. He laid her gently down on the tarmac and searched for her pulse, nothing. He bent down to her mouth to try and feel her breath, nothing. Barry looked at her with unadulterated fear and panic.

 

Iris West had stopped breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this. Again, all comments are greatly appreciated as is the time you took to read my work.


	3. Can This Be Happening?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date between Barry and Iris continues amid chaos, questions and growing connections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your continued support, comments and kudos for this work. It feels really good to be part of a community that supports one another, I haven’t had that feeling in a long time.
> 
> Again, please remember this fic works best when you use your imagination. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy chapter three.

     Barry froze in panic. Flashbacks of his mother in much the same position as Iris was in now flooded his mind. But as quickly as those horrible memories came they left just as fast because Iris was in a grave state and he had to save her, he couldn’t lose her too. Barry positioned Iris’s body flat and tilted her head back and began to give her CPR. He alternated steady, firm pushes to Iris’s heart with blowing his entire life force into her lungs. He repeated the full CPR process three times, there was no response.

     “Come on Iris breathe for me, please,” Barry pleaded as he continued the CPR. 

      Iris wasn’t responding and Barry could feel the tears flooding his eyes as he looked down at his beautiful Iris, who just a short time ago was the very picture of vibrant health and life.

      “Come on baby breathe, please, you’ve got to breathe,” Barry was screaming in panic now, trying to will Iris to hear him and do as he begged.

      Barry continued performing CPR but Iris just wasn’t responding. His head fell to Iris’s chest as he pleaded with God,  “Please don’t take her from me too. Please save her, dear God please.”

      Then he felt it, a small rise from her chest. He couldn’t be sure if it was his shaking body or she had in fact moved.  He moved his head over her heart and he could just make out a very weak heartbeat. He then took his hand to her mouth and could feel the lightest touch of breath. He let out an exclamation of relief and scooped her into his arms and kissed her. A kiss that was filled with Barry’s overwhelming sense of relief coupled with his need to continue to give her all the oxygen and life giving energy from him that he could.

   As he held her tight he could hear the helicopter approaching and as it was landing he picked Iris up and briefly shielded her from the wind gusts that were created. He then ran over to the helicopter and as Cisco helped him get Iris inside Barry yelled,  ”Go, Now, Hurry.”

     Barry kept his eyes on Iris as he wanted to monitor her closely in case she should stop breathing again. Cisco was trying to get Barry’s attention but he couldn’t pry Barry’s eyes or attention away from Iris. He studied Barry’s face and body language and he knew his friend was in both a state of shock and panic and he thought it best to wait and talk to him about what had happened later, he only offered, “We’re almost there Barry. I called Caitlin, she’s standing by. Hold on.”

As the helicopter approached the landing Barry dared to take his eyes off of Iris as he wanted to make sure he saw Caitlin and a team awaiting their arrival. He turned back to Iris and said, “Hold on baby, we’re here, you’re going to be alright.”

The team helped Barry get Iris to the waiting gurney and Caitlin fired off questions to Barry as everyone hurriedly walked inside the hospital.

“So wait exactly happened,” Caitlin asked.

“We were eating dinner about half way through she started to cough & scratch at her throat. Then she started to sweat profusely, cough violently, then the convulsions started.”

“And there was no epi pen?”

“ No. I mean no I couldn’t find it. Iris indicated that she had one with her but it wasn’t in her purse. I’m sure she had it but it was no where to be found.”

“Did she ever stop breathing,” Caitlin continued her questioning as she took notes.

“Yeah she did,” Barry said as he rubbed his face and eyes with his shaking hands. “I gave her CPR and she finally responded.”

“About how long was she without oxygen?”

“It felt like a lifetime but probably about a minute, maybe two.”

As they walked into the ER ICU unit Caitlin said, “That’s all I need right now. You stay out here in the waiting area and when I know more I’ll come and get you.”

“I’m coming in Caitlin, I need to be by her side. I need to make sure she’s going to be ok.”

“Barry listen to me, you’ve done all you can do, let me take it from here. I promise I will do everything I can for her.” Barry exhaled. He knew she was right but it pained him to be away from Iris for even a minute in her current condition. Caitlin made eye contact with Cisco and Cisco took Barry by the shoulders and led him to the chairs and they both took a seat.

Cisco could tell that Barry was still really shook up by the events of the evening and he thought if he could get him talking that might help him release some of the tension he was holding in. “Barry, what the hell happened tonight?”

Barry faced Cisco shaking his head, still reveling in his own disbelief. “I don’t know man. We were eating, talking, laughing, then she went into anaphylactic shock. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“Well it looks like the restaurant is clearly at fault. Unless Caitlin discovers something else when she examines Iris, the restaurant must have messed up with the specifications on Iris’ order. I think we should file a complaint with the BBB, the health department and the Zagat review.”

“It just doesn’t make sense Cisco. I bought out a five star restaurant that has an impeccable reputation. We were the only people there, besides the waiter, chef and the random guy that bumped into us before we entered the restaurant. Iris specifically told the waiter about her peanut allergy, which is a fairly common occurrence. You’re telling me the waiter couldn’t remember to tell the chef that or that the chef didn’t remember that specific request. It’s not like they had a bunch of people to help. Then her epi pen disappears with no real explanation.”

Barry stood up and started to pace back and forth in the waiting area. Between his worry for Iris and his growing feeling that something was suspicious about the nights events he couldn’t sit still a moment longer.

“Barry listen to me,” Cisco said sternly hoping to get through to Barry. “You’ve had a difficult night to say the least and I’m sure seeing Iris vulnerable and lifeless brought back a lot of feelings about the night your mom died but I think you need to take a step back and examine what you’re saying. Do I think the restaurant is at fault, absolutely. Should the waiter & chef be reprimanded, no question. But it’s like your implying that something nefarious is going on and I just don’t see it. My friend I think this is a case of negligence with horrific consequences.”

Barry stared at Cisco and took in what he said. He had to admit to himself that he was emotionally spent. The last three hours of his life had brought him to the pinnacle of joy and to the very lowest depths of despair & fear. Maybe in an effort to comfort himself he was looking for something that wasn’t there, something to explain how Iris could have been so compromised.

“You’re probably right. I’m just trying to process all that has happened tonight and in doing so I’m leaping to all sorts of sordid and wrong conclusions. Thanks for keeping me on track.”

“Anytime,” Cisco said and patted Barry on the back. “Why don’t I go to the hospital cafeteria and get some coffee for us.”

“Sounds good. I could use something during this interminable wait.”

More than an hour passed and Barry wondered how much longer it would be. Then Caitlin appeared with a stoic look Barry couldn’t read. “How is she,” he asked part of him honestly scared by what Caitlin might say.

“We’ve stabilized her. I’ve given her several different medications that will counteract the effect of the anaphylaxis. I’m giving her oxygen and saline to replenish her body. We had to pump her stomach and, um, that’s where I’m having a discrepancy in my final conclusion of what happened.”

As Barry directed Caitlin to a more private area, Cisco joined the conversation.

Barry asked Caitlin in a more hushed tone, “What do you mean?”

“When I examined the contents of her stomach there was no evidence of the peanut allergen in the food she ate. So I took blood, saliva, mucus samples and there was a high concentration of peanut dust in the mucus membranes in her nose & the saliva swab from her mouth.”

“What does that mean,” Cisco asked before Barry could.

“I’m 99 percent sure that she inhaled peanut dust somewhere tonight.”

“Peanut dust,” Barry and Cisco both said in incredulous unison.

“So there was random peanut dust just lying on the surfaces Iris came in contact with tonight. That’s crazy, what are the odds of that happening? And why would there be peanut dust anywhere outside of a peanut processing plant or outside of a kitchen?”

“Barry I don’t know where she came in contact with it, but here’s what I do know. For most anaphylactic cases we don’t run all the tests I did tonight. We assume the food is the point of allergen entry, we medicate and observe the patient and then release them. But when you told me that Iris had made it halfway through her meal then the reaction happened, that set off a red flag. Usually anaphylaxis happens immediately upon ingesting food but Iris’s was delayed leading me to believe that she came in contact with the allergen in another way, hence the different tests I ran, and I’m glad I did.”

“So is peanut dust more dangerous for a person with the peanut allergy,” Cisco asked.

“It can be depending on how severe the person’s allergy is. It can also take the person longer to recover from the anaphylaxis because it’s been in their system longer. Most people need twelve hours to recover from a typical reaction but with peanut dust recovery could be anywhere from 24 to 36 hours.”

Barry started to pace back and forth, his mind trying to decipher and make sense of all the information Cailitn just gave him and then he realized something. “With peanut dust it would be difficult to trace the origin point, right? I mean we might never know where exactly Iris inhaled the dust.”

Caitlin nodded, “That’s right.”

Barry and Cisco exchanged looks and with no verbal communication they both were on the same page, something was definitely suspicious about what happened to Iris tonight. “Cisco I want you to go back to the restaurant and do some investigating,” Barry instructed Cisco.

“What if they closed the restaurant?”

“Then get the general manager of the Penthouse Towers, Tom Hopkins, I know him personally, to open the place up. See if you can track down the napkins and table cloths from the restaurant, maybe if they haven’t been laundered we can run tests on them to see if there is any peanut dust residue. Find the waiter and chef and interview them both, let’s see how their statements about tonight’s events compare. Also, look at the kitchen see if there is any trace of peanut dust there.”

“I’m on it, anything else?”

“Yeah, check the security cameras just outside the restaurant in the corridor. Iris bumped into some guy and that’s where she spilled her purse.”

“Why is that important, ” Cisco asked.

“Because I’m wondering if that guy is responsible for Iris’s epi pen disappearing so mysteriously,” Barry said shaking his head not quite believing that his initial suspicion of tonight’s events might actually be spot on.

“I’m on it. I will call you when I have any news,” Cisco assured Barry and quickly exited the hospital.

Barry returned his attention to Caitlin asking her, “So when can I see Iris?”

“Barry, she’s going to be out all night. Between the medicines and sedative I gave her I expect her to wake up, probably about twelve hours from now.”

“Caitlin, can I at least go sit with her, please,” Barry asked with such earnestness in his voice.

“Go ahead, you can sit with her until we move her into a private room,” Caitlin smiled.

Barry went to Iris’s bedside slowly and quietly. She looked so small and frail in the hospital bed with all the different wires and machines hooked up to her. He took a chair and moved it to her bedside. He sat down and took her hand in his and placed a light kiss on her fingertips. He studied her face that was so peacefu, a vast contrast to the face that was in crisis not that long ago, and he thanked God that he could see the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

It was finally hitting Barry, everything that he had gone through with her that evening. The thought of how close he came to losing her filled him with a rush of fear and he felt the tears stream down his face. Since his mother had died all those years ago he was always very cautious about who he let into his life. He knew all too well that opening his heart to love someone was a risk, it made him vulnerable to the hurt and loss that could happen should they leave. It’s not that he didn’t want to fall in love & open his heart to someone he was just so scared to do so, always wondering if such a risk was worth it. But as he wiped his tears and gently moved to caress Iris’s face he knew she was worth any and every risk.

“Hi, pretty lady,” Barry whispered to Iris, who hadn’t moved an inch since he sat beside her. “I know that you need your rest so I won’t talk to you too long, but I need you to know two things. One, on our next date, if there is a next date, if you want to see me again, which I really hope you do, I hope it’s not quite as exciting as tonight. I’m more of a low key date kind of guy. And two, and this is a pretty big declaration so I’m glad you’re fast asleep but I’m...um...yeah.....I’m falling in love with you Iris West.” Barry kissed her cheek, sat down by her bedside and would wait with her until she woke up.

Two hours later Barry was still sitting at Iris’s bedside when Caitlin, a nurse and an attendant came in and informed Barry that they were about to move Iris to a private room. As he stood to make room for them to move her bed his phone rang. He saw the disapproving look Caitlin gave knowing he shouldn’t be taking calls in the ER. He excused himself, went down the hospital corridor saw that it was Cisco calling and answered anxiously. “Cisco, tell me you have some information,” Barry asked seriously.

“Barry, by the time I got to the restaurant it was closed and locked. I took my team and went to see the general manager, Tom Hopkins, I told him what had happened tonight. We went to the restaurant first and all the linens were gone. Then we went to the laundry facility looking for the restaurant linens but nothing was labeled so we couldn’t tell what linens came from where, but what wasn’t already laundered I had my team take back to the AllenTech Lab.”

“What about the chef and the waiter,” Barry asked.

“We located the chef, he was in the hotel bar trying to calm his nerves after the nights events. Apparently he saw everything that happened to Iris but was too afraid to come out of the kitchen and offer any assistance. He swears that the waiter didn’t tell him anything about her peanut allergy. He took us to his kitchen at the restaurant where we did a thorough search. There were peanuts, peanut oil, a lot of different nut related products. There was also a lot of different spices and powders, none of the powders smelled like peanut but we took all of them for analysis just to be sure.”

“Did the chef confirm or deny that he used any peanut products for Iris’s meal,” Barry asked.

“He said he didn’t use anything peanut related, the food she ordered doesn’t call for anything peanut. If he had known of her allergy he would have instituted the proper precautions but since he didn’t he can’t say that it was completely peanut free, sometimes peanut oil gets mixed with olive oil, which is what he used on Iris’s food.”

Barry really wasn’t getting the answers he wanted and he was becoming more agitated as he asked, “Cisco do you believe him? And what about the waiter?”

“I do believe him and here’s why. The waiter, according to the chef, was a new guy, he had never worked with or seen him before. When Tom and I went to look at the shift roster for the restaurant and compared that to the employee records we discovered that the senior waiter that was supposed to be on duty tonight, for your special date, wasn’t and he isn’t picking up his phone. The guy that was in the restaurant with you tonight doesn’t match any employee facial recognition on file. We don’t know who this guy is and we’re trying to figure out how he got into the Penthouse Towers and Penthouse Grill with no employee ID or access card.”

Now Barry was beginning to pace back and forth in the corridor rubbing the back of his head as he was growing more concerned about what he was hearing from Cisco. “Why is this sounding more and more like a setup to me? Were you able to pull the security footage from outside the restaurant where Iris dropped her purse,” Barry asked.

Cisco exhaled, “Yeah we did. Barry, that guy that bumped into Iris did take her epi pen, you can clearly see him do it on the surveillance footage. The thing that we can’t get a clear view of is his face. It looks like this bastard knew exactly where the camera was and he avoided being seen.”

Now Barry was both concerned and angry. “So just to recap we have mysterious peanut dust, a guy posing as a waiter that we can’t find, the real waiter is also MIA and a guy that we can’t ID definitely stole Iris’s epi pen. What the hell is going on here,” Barry angrily asked.

”I don’t Barry, but it looks like someone went to a lot of trouble to make sure Iris got sick,” Cisco said./p>

”And since we don’t know who or why someone wants to hurt Iris she is still in danger. Cisco I want a two man security team here at the hospital immediately. I want Iris under constant, round the clock surveillance,” Barry commanded.

”I will send two of my best guys over right away and I will continue the investigation here. As soon as I’ve identified any of these unknown persons I will let you know immediately. I will also follow up with the lab about the test results for the linens. What are you going to do,” Cisco asked.

”I’m going to spend the night here with Iris. Have someone pack on overnight bag for me and bring it to the hospital. When I know which room Iris is in I will text you.”

”Barry we’re going to figure this out,” Cisco reassured Barry.

”We have to Cisco, I’m not going to let anything happen to Iris.”

*********************************************  
Iris slowly opened her eyes. She attempted to get her bearings and recognize where she was. Everything around her looked & smelled foreign until she turned her head to the right and her eyes fell on Barry Allen. The moment she saw him the previous nights events started to come back to her. She remembered the auction, the date, the feel of Barry’s hand on her back. Then she closed her eyes again as she began to remember the coughing, choking, wheezing & shaking. The last thing she remembers was being in Barry’s arms & now she recognized that she was in the hospital, a place she absolutely detested. She looked over at Barry again sleeping so peacefully despite his long legs hanging off the makeshift bed he was in. She wondered how long he had been here. She wanted some water, a shower and some answers.

“Barry,” Iris whispered. She was having a hard time speaking because her throat was sore from all the coughing the night before. “Barry,” she said just a bit louder. He started to move, but didn’t wake up. “Barry,” Iris said again as loud as she could. 

Barry opened his eyes a bit disoriented at the unfamiliar surroundings, then he turned to look at Iris and when he realized she was awake he jumped up & rushed to her side. “Hi pretty lady, how are you feeling?”

“I’m tired. My throat & chest hurt. Can I have some water?”

“Yea, yea, let me get that for you,” Barry said as he rushed to get Iris some water. He gently held the back of her head up as he placed the cup to her lips and helped her drink the water.

“Barry, what happened? I remember some of last night, but not everything. Have you been here all night,” Iris asked curious for answers.

Barry stared at her for a moment. He was torn between telling her the whole truth about the previous night or waiting until she was stronger and he had more answers, he decided on the latter. “You ingested some peanut substance, you went into anaphylactic shock, I brought you to the hospital, they gave you medicine to counteract the effects and we’ve been here all night,” Barry said, hoping she wasn’t going to ask for more details. 

“You stayed with me all night,” Iris asked, wanting to make sure she wasn’t misunderstanding him.

“Well I did pay for a date with Iris West and when I realized I was going to get to spend the night with her I just couldn’t pass that up,” Barry said as he smiled from ear to ear.

As Iris was about tell Barry how much she appreciated what he had done for her Caitlin walked in and said, “Ms. West, I’m Dr. Snow, how are you feeling this morning.”

“I’m ok, tired, sore, thirsty and I really want out of this hospital. So when can I leave,” Iris asked anxiously.

“I like a patient that cuts to the chase,” Caitlin said and smiled. “The medicine we gave you worked very well, your tests indicate that the allergen is completely out of your system. You’re going to be tired, weak and maybe even a little dizzy today so I recommend that you spend the day with someone that can look after you.”

The moment Caitlin said that Barry and Iris exchanged glances with each other, glances that Caitlin noticed so she added, “Barry, you’ve done such a good job taking care of Ms West so far, maybe you can help her out today. I’m mean you did save her life.”

“What,” Iris questioned.

“He didn’t tell you. You stopped breathing during your anaphylaxis and Barry gave you CPR and had his helicopter bring you to the hospital,”. Caitlin said. “If he hadn’t acted so quickly things might not have turned out as they did.”

Iris looked over at Barry and reached out her hand to him. As he took her hand and interlaced their fingers Iris looked up to him and said, “My hero.”

That’s what Barry wanted to be, her hero. The man that stood by her, protected her and made sure nothing ever happened to her. And given what Barry knew about last night being her hero was not just something he wanted, it was something he absolutely knew he had to be, no matter what.

“I will get your paperwork ready to have you released and I will send a nurse in here to help you get changed. I have a pair of clean scrubs you can wear home if that’s ok,” Caitlin said as she checked Iris’s vitals.

“Thank you so much and thank you for all your help and care Dr. Snow. I’m very grateful.”

“That’s my job. Plus any friend of Barry’s is a friend of mine. If you have any unusual symptoms, concerns, questions please don’t hesitate to call me, Barry has my number.”

Caitlin left and Iris started to get out of bed, but as she got to her feet she felt a sudden dizziness. As she lost her balance Barry caught her in his arms and helped her sit down on the edge of the bed. “I guess I got up too fast,” Iris said as she tried to regain some balance.

“Iris, I don’t want to overstep in any way but it’s clear that you need some help. Please let me take you home and from there we can decide what needs to be done next,” Barry offered hoping she wouldn’t protest.

“Ok. I’m honestly too tired and too weak to try and figure out another plan right now. Thank you so much Barry, for everything,” Iris smiled and put her arms around his waist and pulled him into a hug.

She felt so good in his arms and he wanted nothing more than to be able to hold her close forever. But fate intervened when the nurse came in and Iris pulled out of the hug and Barry excused himself and went outside as Iris got ready to leave.

Barry went to speak to the two men that were assigned to Iris’s protection detail. “Ms West and I will be leaving in about twenty minutes. I’m going to call for my car, Andrew I want you to go down and wait with the car. Duncan I want to stay here with myself and Ms. West and leave with us as we exit the hospital. Duncan, stay close, but I don’t want Ms. West to feel your presence, not yet, at least, not until I’ve had a chance to tell her why we need the extra security. Do you both understand?”

Both men nodded and replied in unison, “Yes, Mr Allen,” and then proceeded to take care of their tasks at hand. Barry waited as Iris changed and finished her paperwork and then the door to Iris’s room opened and she was being wheeled out by the nurse. “Are you ready? Should I call an Uber,” Iris asked Barry.

Barry chuckled to himself. Iris was so independent he found it funny that even when she wasn’t feeling 100% she was still trying to take care of herself. “No, I’ve taken care of everything, don’t worry. We’re going to get you home, safe and sound and feeling better,” Barry assured her.

Barry walked alongside Iris in her wheelchair and as they entered the elevator Iris reached out and took Barry’s hand. He interlaced their fingers, as this was becoming one of his favorite ways to be close to her and as he held her hand his thumb rubbed small circles into her smooth skin. At the feel of his caress Iris tighten her hold on Barry’s hand and looked at him and smiled. She was so happy he was there.

As they approached the exit Barry could see his car and bodyguard waiting and was feeling secure in the precautions he was taking to protect Iris. The sunlight was bright as it hit Iris’s face but the warmth felt good against her skin after being stuck in a cold, sterile hospital for almost 24 hours. Barry helped Iris into the car and as he turned to walk to the other side of the car to get in he noticed a man staring at them. And he recognized the man.

“Stay here with Iris, don’t leave her side,” Barry instructed his bodyguards. He started walking quickly in the direction of the man never taking his eyes off of him.

“Barry what’s going on, where are you going,” Iris asked as she saw Barry starting to run.

As the man realized that Barry had recognized him and was coming towards him he started to run. Barry pursued the man into the parking garage. Once inside Barry could no longer see him and he didn’t hear any footsteps running. Then, almost out of nowhere, a motorcycle was barreling towards Barry and had Barry not been so nimble on his feet he would have been run over. But being so close to the motorcycle did afford Barry a closer look at the driver and Barry was absolutely sure who it was. It was the man that was also bidding on a date with Iris at the auction, the man that looked just like Idris Elba. And Barry realized he just got another piece to this puzzle, a big piece.

The motorcycle man continued to speed through Central City until he was well on the outskirts of town. When he was sure that he wasn’t being followed he stopped on a secluded part of the highway, pulled out his burner phone and dialed the number he had memorized. He then heard the voice of the man that had hired him.

“Mr. Cutter do you have good news for me? Do you finally have Iris West?”

“No, I’m sorry Mr Thawne, I don’t. I’ve run into another problem,” Mr Cutter said with extreme apprehension.

“What is the problem now,” Mr Thawne demanded to know.

“Barry Allen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My original plan was to update this work every weekend but Chapter four may take a bit longer to update. I appreciate your patience and I hope it will be worth the wait.
> 
> Your support & comments are much appreciated.


	4. Can this be Happening?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Iris discuss everything that has happened to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading my work. Your kind comments have really given me some much needed support.
> 
> I didn’t change the rating on the overall work but please note that this chapter does contain some violence.
> 
> As always I hope you enjoy this.

“Mr. Cutter it was my understanding when I hired you that you would be able to get me anything I wanted. I want Iris West!

Mr Cutter was beginning to sweat as he said, “I can still get Iris West for you sir I’m just going to need a little more time. My original plan didn’t quite go as I expected.”

“Clearly, since your plan of bringing Iris West to me in the ambulance after you induced her anaphylactic shock has not only failed, miserably, but it has now brought Barry Allen into the mix of things.”

“With his security team,” Mr Cutter added.

“Oh, perfect,” Mr. Thawne said in an overly sarcastic tone. “Mr. Cutter I want you to listen to me very carefully because you’re working my last good nerve. I don’t want to know why your elaborate plan has gone so awry. The fact that you failed says a lot to me about the kind of operative you are. I don’t care how you do it but I’m giving you 24 hours to deliver Iris West to me. If that fails to happen, you, Mr. Cutter, will be a dead man. Are we clear?”

“Very clear Sir. And what about Barry Allen?”

“Barry Allen has been a thorn in my side for a long time, dispose of him and anyone that works for him anyway you see fit. Just be sure that nothing can be traced back to me.”

With that Mr. Thawne hung up and Mr. Cutter now had one day to figure out how to get rid of Barry Allen and deliver Iris West to Mr. Thawne.

 

Iris opened her apartment door and stepped inside, before Barry entered he gave a nod to his bodyguard that was waiting at the end of the hallway. Barry was giving silent instructions that he expected his man to keep a close eye on Iris’s apartment and ensure that no one unexpected tried to enter.

As Iris went to her kitchen for some water Barry took in her apartment. It was a beautiful, open floor plan with high ceilings and picture windows. The décor perfectly reflected Iris, elegant and warm with functional and practical touches. Barry was immediately drawn to the mantle over the fireplace where there were photographs of Iris and presumably her friends and family. In every photo Iris looked so carefree and happy and Barry wanted a photo like this. He wanted to be the one to hold Iris and make her smile for the camera. Barry thought of his own home, there were no photos like that anywhere. All he had was a photo album of old memories that were to painful to remember. He wanted new memories, he wanted those with Iris West.

“Can I get you something to drink, water, juice, coffee,” Iris offered as she broke Barry out of his thoughts.

“No, no thank you, I’m fine. I’m supposed to be taking care of you, remember? So what can I do, what do you need?”

“I need a shower desperately,” Iris said as she tugged at the itchy scrubs she was desperate to take off.”

“That’s sounds great to me,” Barry said with a smile, then internally cringing about how it sounded as Iris arched an eyebrow and stepped closer to him. “What I mean to say is that the thought of you showering makes me happy, I mean not happy, well, yes, happy because it’s what you want to do. I want to do what you want to do and if you want to shower then I want to shower.”

Barry was turning bright red and Iris was relishing how cute & awkward he was. It might not have been the best idea but Iris couldn’t resist the urge to have a little fun with Barry. “So, do you want to take a shower with me Barry,” Iris asked in a whisper with a smile on her face.

“Me, shower, shower with you? Do you want to shower with me,” Barry asked not quite believing what she was asking.

“I asked you first,” Iris said as she stared deeply into Barry’s eyes. They were getting lost in looking at each other which seemed to calm Barry. He stepped closer to her and took her hands in his as he said, “I know that I want to be the man that gets to know you better, that shares everything with you, that gets to hold you and touch you.” Barry realized the magnitude of what he just said and he took a step back but Iris pulled him close to her and kissed him.

It was a chaste kiss that took Barry by surprise and when she pulled away he stood there with his eyes still closed savoring her touch in that moment. When he opened his eyes she was smiling at him and he took his hand and caressed her face. Iris was in awe of how Barry was looking at her like she was the most precious person to him, it was a look no man had ever given her. She leaned into his caress and she could see that with his eyes he was asking her permission to kiss her. She nodded ok and he put his arm around her waist and pulled her to her tiptoes so that he could really kiss her. He started to bite her bottom lip open and tilted her head to the side to deepen the kiss. Iris moaned and started to tickle her tongue along his top lip. That sensation drove Barry crazy and he pulled Iris so close to him she could feel his chest rising and falling rapidly. Their tongues were now dancing with each other and Iris could feel Barry’s body starting to betray him. She was loving the feeling of him, the passion in him but she didn’t want this to go too far, too soon. As she broke away to get some air Barry continued his parade of kisses along her jawline and down her neck and she thought she could handle two more minutes of Barry’s kisses then she would stop it. She was reveling in how good his kisses felt and how warm his hands were caressing her back when she felt a vibration.

“Barry, you’re vibrating,” Iris said breathlessly.

“I know, you see the effect you have on me,” he said between kisses.

Iris laughed as she tried to pull away, “It’s your phone, silly. You should get it, might be important.” Iris had to admit she was mildly relieved. She was being completely swept off her feet by Barry’s passion but she ultimately wanted what Barry wanted, to get to know him better and to share things with him. She really wanted to understand him and from there, hopefully, build a relationship with him.

Barry stopped his kisses and rested his head on Iris’s shoulder as he reached inside his pocket and retrieved his phone. He exhaled, held his head up and saw that is was Cisco calling. The momentary bliss of kissing Iris had taken his mind off the pressing matters at hand. He almost felt guilty that he took his attention away from the current chaos, almost. But he knew in his heart that there would never be a time or an instance where he would ever regret or feel guilty about holding, touching or kissing Iris.

“Yeah, I need to take this,” Barry smiled and said.

“I understand, no problem. I’m going to go upstairs and take that shower. Make yourself at home. I’ll be back down in little awhile.”

“Can’t wait.” Barry watched as Iris went upstairs and closed the doors to her bedroom. He took off his sweater in an attempt to cool down and he went over to the freezer and opened the door to feel the cold air against him hoping that would calm down the more excitable area of his body.

Barry took a deep breath and called Cisco back, anxiety filling him as he waited to hear what information Cisco had learned. Barry was also growing more anxious at the prospect of having to tell Iris about everything that had happened. “Hey Cisco, sorry about that, I was, um, I was in the middle of something. What’s going on? Any developments?”

“Well, I’ve been able to learn some things but I don’t necessarily have any answers,” Cisco replied.

“What does that mean,” Barry asked.

“I received the lab tests back from the linens we took at the Penthouse Towers. There were indeed traces of peanut dust found on a napkin. I’m assuming that was the napkin that Iris used.”

“Of course,” Barry said as he remembered something from the previous evening.

“Of course what,” Cisco asked.

“The waiter last night suggested that Iris and I go out on the terrace and take in the beauty of Central City. Iris and I were so wrapped up in each other we weren’t paying any attention to anything else. I bet that was when he put the peanut dust on her napkin.”

“But why not do it before you both arrived at the restaurant?” Cisco questioned.

“Well, we will have to confirm this with Caitlin but I’m assuming peanut dust, like any dust, can be dispersed with the slightest movement or wind. If he put it on the napkin too soon some of it might have blown off, thereby not leaving enough to be effective to give Iris the allergic reaction.”

“I get it. So he has you two distracted with each other, then he puts the peanut dust in the napkin right before she sits down and therefore she gets the full effect of the most amount of peanut dust. But I wonder why they put the napkin in the laundry and they didn’t destroy it,” Cisco inquired.

“Remember what Caitlin said, hospitals and doctors usually don’t run all the tests she did. They usually assume that the food is where the person is subjected to the allergen. I’m assuming that whoever is behind all this never thought specific tests would be run on Iris and therefore no one would discover peanut dust was what caused her reaction and so no one would be looking for where the peanut dust might have been left.

“That makes sense. Man, this is one hell of a plot,” Cisco said exasperated.

“Exactly. Ok, well, that’s one piece to the puzzle, what else have you found out,” Barry asked as he closed the freezer door, walked over to Iris’s ivory suede sofa and sat down.

“Ok, so, the waiter that was supposed to be serving you and Iris at dinner, we found him in his apartment complex parking garage. He was bound and gagged on the floor in the back of his car. He said he was on his way to work and as he was about to get into his car someone hit him over the head from behind. The next thing he knew he woke up hands tied behind his back and tape covering his mouth.”

“He is alright? Was he able to get any kind of look at his attacker? Barry asked.

“I think he’ll be ok. I sent him with one of my guys to see Caitlin at the hospital. He didn’t see anything and just our luck the security cameras weren’t working.”

“Dammit,” Barry exclaimed, hoping Iris didn’t hear him. “Tell me you have something else Cisco?”

“Yeah I do. I heard on the police scanner that there was a body found by the docks. I went down to investigate and luckily my friend Darren was on duty, he let me catch a glimpse of the corpse.” Cisco exhaled before he continued, “Barry, it was the waiter that served you and Iris last night.”

Barry froze. Someone was dead. Someone had died and most likely he was murdered. Barry felt nauseated. Whatever was going on now took an even darker turn which Barry knew meant that Iris was in grave danger.

“Barry are you there?”

“Sorry man, yeah, I’m here. I’m just trying to process this information. Have the police been able to ID him yet?”

“Not yet, but as soon as they do Darren said he would let me know, so we’re still actively investigating that angle.”

“Any leads on the guy that took Iris’s epi pen?”

“Not yet. We found some addition surveillance footage of him leaving the Penthouse Towers. We took that footage and the surveillance video we already had back to my lab and we cleaned it up the best we could but we still can’t make out his face. I’m putting the videos through the new AllenTech facial deciphering amalgamation compilation software. It will take some time but we should have a clear idea of what he looks like in about an hour, two tops, and I will call you when I have the results. But for right now we do know from the footage that we have & cleaned up that he has a jagged scar on his right forearm. Barry you bumped into him, you don’t remember anything about him?

“Unfortunately no. It all happened so fast and I was concentrating more on Iris and helping her than the guy that caused the commotion.”

“What did Iris say about him, does she remember anything?”

Barry hesitated before he answered. “I actually haven’t told her about everything yet.”

“Barry, what the hell,” Cisco raised his voice and asked. “This whole episode is revolving around her. She needs to know she’s in some sort of danger. Plus maybe she remembers something that could help us. You have to talk to her now.”

“I know, I know Cisco. It’s just that leaving the hospital was eventful, then we got to her place and I was trying to make her feel comfortable and we got, um, you know, sidetracked. After she takes her shower I will talk to her,” Barry assured Cisco.

“Good. And speaking of leaving the hospital. I got your text about getting the security videos from the hotel and the ballroom where the auction was held, but you didn’t elaborate why.”

“When I was bidding on a date with Iris it came down to me and one other guy and this guy looks exactly like Idris Elba. Well guess who I saw at the hospital today as Iris and I were leaving?”

“Not the Idris Elba doppelgänger,” Cisco asked not quite believing what he was hearing.

“Oh yes it was. He was watching us from the parking garage. I ran after him, lost him in the garage and he damn near ran me over on his motorcycle as he made his getaway.”

“And you’re absolutely sure it was the same guy from the auction?”

“One hundred percent. Cisco, finding this guy has got to be our top priority, and we have to do it fast. I have a feeling that he holds the answers to all of our questions about what’s going on.”

“I’ll put every available person I have on it,” Cisco assured Barry.

“Have you secured Iris’s building,” Barry asked as he stood up and started to pace back and forth.

“Sure have, one car out front, one motorcycle at the end of her block, one car in the back of her building and Duncan should be in front of Iris’s door.”

Barry walked over to the front door, opened it and saw Duncan standing guard, he gave him a nod of approval and closed the door. “I’m glad you put Duncan close to Iris. He’s been with us the longest and I trust him the most,” Barry said.

“Yeah, he’s a good man, when all this is over with we should talk about giving him a promotion he certainly deserves it after all the years he’s devoted to AllenTech,” Cisco remarked.

“When this is over we will talk about him.” Barry paused a moment and then continued, “So, I’m going to talk to Iris, if she remembers anyone or noticed anything that I didn’t I will call you immediately. Keep me posted about anything and everything that you find out. Also send me over all the surveillance videos that show the pertinent clues to this case, I want to see them for myself. And Cisco this is our top priority, we have to figure this out and keep Iris safe. I can’t lose her,” Barry said in a desperate tone.

Cisco heard that desperation and tried to reassure Barry, “Nothing is going to happen to her, we’re doing everything in our power to ensure her safety and discover the people behind these nefarious acts. Hang in there man. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Thanks Cisco.” With that Barry and Cisco both hung up. Cisco went back to work on the investigation and Barry was left processing everything he just learned and contemplating how he was going to tell Iris.

Meanwhile, Iris was just stepping out of her shower. She felt much better and although she was still feeling a little tired at least she was starting to get her appetite back. She felt like some blueberry pancakes and she was hoping she could convince Barry to help her make them. She finished putting on her Tahitian vanilla body lotion and went to her closet to pick out a warm, lounge set she could put on, she chose the blue cashmere two piece. As she walked from her closet to her dresser something outside of her window caught her attention. She noticed that Barry’s car was there but instead of just the driver being in the car there were now two men sitting in the car and at the end of her block she could she a man dressed in all black sitting on a motorcycle conspicuously observing. Iris had done enough investigating in her time to recognize what a security detail looked like. The question was why did Barry have so much security out front when last night at the auction & on their date she hadn’t seen any security at all. In fact, it was pretty well known around Central City that Barry didn’t travel with all that much security, which Iris always thought was dangerous considering how much Barry was reportedly worth. She wanted to talk to Barry about it. She finished dressing, moisturized her face and blew out her hair just enough so that she wouldn’t catch a chill from her wet hair, she then threw her hair into a messy top bun and she proceeded to go downstairs.

As Barry heard Iris’s bedroom door open he turned around and watched her descend down the stairs.

“Hi pretty lady,” Barry said as he smiled at her. Every time he saw her he was just blown away by her natural, captivating beauty.

“Hi,” Iris smiled.

“How are feeling,” Barry asked, voice full of concern.

“I’m good, still a little tired but good. I’m actually feeling hungry.”

“That’s a good sign, what should we make? I’m not the best in the kitchen but I take instruction very well,” Barry smiled and wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

Iris laughed at how cute he was but she knew what she had to do. “Barry, food can wait. Come sit with me, I think we need to talk.” Iris gestured for Barry to come and sit with her on the sofa.

Barry inhaled and exhaled deeply knowing the time had come to tell Iris everything and he went to join her on the sofa.

“Barry, what’s going on? I noticed that there was a security detail in front of my building and it’s fairly common knowledge that you don’t travel with such a big detail so I can only assume there here for me. Am I right? Is something wrong that involves me?

Barry could see the concern growing on Iris’s face and in her eyes and he had to make sure that he conveyed the information he had in a calm manner and reassure her everything was going to be okay. “Iris, I don’t believe that your allergic reaction was the result of negligence by the restaurant. I believe that it was a deliberate attack on you.”

“What,” Iris asked with a higher pitch to her voice.

“Iris, please, let me just finish with everything I know. Dr. Snow discovered that the peanut allergen that caused your anaphylaxis was not in the food you ate but rather in peanut dust that we have discovered was placed on your napkin most likely by the waiter that was serving us. That waiter was not supposed to be serving us at all last night. In fact he doesn’t even work at the Penthouse Grill. We’re not sure who is yet, and um, he is, well he was found dead this morning on the docks.”

“Oh my God,” Iris said as she covered her mouth with her hand.

“I know,” Barry said as he gently took her other hand in his. “We found the waiter that was supposed to be serving us, he had been attacked and left tied up in his car but he didn’t see his attacker and the security cameras in his parking garage weren’t working. When we were….”

“What, go back, what about my epi pen, I ALWAYS carry it with me.”

“I’m getting to that. So you remember when that guy bumped into us just as we were about to enter the restaurant?”

“Oh, don’t tell me that he…”

“Yea, we have the surveillance footage that shows him very subtly & carefully taking the epi pen with him.”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe I didn’t notice him taking it. I’m usually so observant I was just so enthralled with you and the events of the night.”

Barry smiled the smallest of smiles as her heard Iris was enthralled with him. Then he reassured her, “Iris, there are some very good professional thieves out there. Some so good they take wallets out of pockets and people don’t even realize, for a professional, what that guy did was a piece of cake to him. Don’t blame yourself. You didn’t happen to take note of his face or see anything that was distinguishing about him, did you,” Barry asked.

Iris thought back to the encounter, “No, I don’t recall what he looked like. I remember his hands were large and the were of a red, ruddy complexion. I remembered when he reached there was, what looked like, maybe a scar of some sort on his forearm.”

Barry was impressed. Although he already knew that bit of information, it was impressive that Iris had noticed and remembered such details. “We were able to see that scar on the surveillance video. We were able to capture him on two different video feeds and we’re using the most advanced facial recognition software available to discover his identity.

Iris got up and started to pace in circles. “Is that all the information you have? You don’t have any idea who could possibly be behind all this?”

“There’s one more thing,” Barry stood up and watched as Iris paced nervously. “When we were leaving the hospital I ran over to the parking garage.”

“Yeah, that was really weird but I thought maybe you just saw someone you knew.”

“Well, I kinda did,” Barry said as he was about to deliver the last piece of information he had. “At the auction, the bidding for the date with you came down to me and one other guy.”

“The Idris Elba lookalike,” Iris offered.

“Exactly,” Barry said in a bit of disbelief. “Wait, do you know that guy?”

“No I don’t know him, but, do you, I mean, have you ever had the feeling you’ve seen someone before but you just can’t place where. That’s the feeling I had when I saw that guy, among other feelings.”

Barry walked closer to Iris and asked, “What does that mean?”

“I, I just got a bad feeling from him. Every bit of my feminine intuition and my reporters instinct jumped when I saw him. I just felt like he was up to no good. And the way he looked at me, it well, he creeped me out to be honest.”

With Iris’s admission Barry was now convinced more than ever that this guy was the key to discovering everything. “As we speak, I have Cisco, my head of security trying to figure out who he is.”

“And maybe who he works for,” Iris offered.

“Why do you say that,” Barry asked with a confused look on his face.

“This seems like a very elaborate set of occurrences and in my experience the people that orchestrate such plans are rarely the people that execute the plan,” Iris said as she was still pacing.

“So you think Idris Elba works for someone?”

“I do. And whomever this someone is they have an agenda against me or you,” Iris said as she stopped pacing and looked at Barry.

“Me,” Barry said in a most incredulous tone as he stopped dead in his tracks.

Iris stepped closer to Barry, “I’m just looking at the timing of everything. What are the odds that on the same night I have a date with you all these events should transpire? If someone wanted to do me harm, why wait until last night when I’m with you, why not do it before? Could someone be trying to send you a message?”

In all the possible scenarios Barry had entertained about what had happened it never dawned on him that he could be the reason Iris was in danger. He thought the most probable explanation was that Iris had written an article about someone that was unfavorable and they were seeking revenge in the most awful way. All of a sudden he felt fear, guilt, anger. It was because of his reckless actions that his mother had died and now, could it be his all consuming affection and pursuit of Iris had put her in danger too? Could bringing her into his life have paved a way for an enemy to take their revenge out on him through her?

Iris noticed the change in Barry’s demeanor and how he went absolutely ghostly white. She placed her hand on Barry’s shoulder as she said, “Barry I’m not blaming you or saying this is your fault. I’m….”

“Well that’s what it sounds like,” Barry snapped at Iris and moved out of her touch.

“What,” Iris asked, concern and surprise evident in her voice.

“It’s just that you jumped really quick to the conclusion that this all might have something to do with me instead of first considering that maybe you exposed someone through your writing and now they want revenge.” Barry curtly said as he turned his back to Iris and closed his eyes. He immediately regretted snapping at Iris, his fear and anger with himself was taking over, making him act out.

This was the first time she had seen this side of Barry, she didn’t like it, but she understood these were extenuating circumstances and there seemed to be something else fueling his anger. She calmed her voice and spoke, “Barry, as a journalist I’ve learned that in any good, thorough investigation every angle, every possibility has to be explored, that’s really all that I was saying. We’re both public figures, we’ve probably both pissed people off, I know I have, and really think we need to sit down and just and make a list of people that have a motive in wanting to hurt me.”

Barry turned around and looked deeply into Iris’s beautiful, brown eyes, “Hurt us. When you’re hurt, I’m hurt. It almost broke me to see you in such pain Iris. I’m sorry I snapped at you. It was just the thought that I might be the reason why you almost died was too much for me to handle in that moment. It brought back painful memories of my mom. You see when I was sixteen….”

Barry was interrupted by the ring of Iris’s landline phone. “I’m sorry, there must be something wrong in the building, the only calls I get on this phone are from the doorman or the super. Hold that thought, I want to hear about your mom,” Iris said as she went to answer the phone.

“Hello? Mr. Tate is that you? I barely recognized your voice, are you sick?”As Iris talked on the phone Barry began to think about who could want to hurt him like this. He had his fair share of enemies in business but those men and women were honorable, they understood that whatever happened in business wasn’t a personal attack and Barry meant no harm. But maybe he was wrong, perhaps someone took his actions as a personal attack and now they wanted revenge. Or maybe his first inclination was correct and someone was out to get Iris for something she had done. He just didn’t want to think anymore.

“Ok, I understand, I’ll be right down, thank you,” Iris said and hung up her phone.

“Is everything okay,” Barry asked as he snapped out of his own thoughts and returned his attention to Iris.

“Fine, I just have to go down to the garage. One of the neighbors accidentally backed into my car and there’s some damage. The super wants me to come and inspect the damage and figure out how I want to handle it. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, I’ll come with you,” Barry said.

“Barry it’s ok I can go down to the garage by myself. This is a secure building, I trust the super, he would never be involved in something that would hurt me. Plus your security people everywhere, right? I’m sure no one that shouldn’t be here is in the building right now,” Iris said as she tried to reassure Barry.

“Iris, I’m sure everything you said is absolutely true, but I’m still going with you, ok? No arguments.” Barry stared at Iris with a look that she knew meant he was very serious.

“Ok, come on.”

Barry grabbed his sweater and as Iris opened the door she was startled by Duncan’s presence. “Hi,” Iris said not really sure who this man was and she turned and looked at Barry for an explanation.

“I’m sorry Iris, with everything that has happened I haven’t had a chance to make introductions. This is Duncan, one of our best bodyguards, he’ll be at your door during the day and another gentleman will take over at night.”

Iris extended her hand to Duncan and said, “Nice to meet you, thank you for your help.”

Duncan shook her hand and responded, “No problem Ms. West, I’m here to help.”

“Duncan, Ms West and I are going to the parking garage, we should be back in about twenty minutes. Stay here and keep the apartment secure and let the entire detail know what we’re doing and where we’re going,” Barry instructed Duncan.

“Yes, sir. Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you,” Duncan asked.  
  
“No I’ll take care of her.” As Barry and Iris went down the hallway to the elevator Barry’s phone rang, he saw that Cisco was calling and answered immediately, “Hey, Cisco, what’s going on? Cisco, Cisco, you’re breaking up, can you repeat that? Can you hear me,” Barry asked and then the call dropped.

Iris stopped and turned to Barry to tell him, “It’s this hallway, for whatever reason the reception here is awful, you’re not going to be able to hear anything. It’s an important call isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s from Cisco, he might have some new information about what’s going on with you.”

“Okay, why don’t we do this. You go back to my apartment and call Cisco and then Duncan can take me down to the garage, keep an eye on everything, and then we’ll come right back upstairs. How does that plan sound,” Iris asked hoping Barry would be okay with that so she could finally get to the garage and see the damage to her car.

Barry really didn’t want to leave Iris’s side but he had to know what Cisco found out and he had a feeling that he shouldn’t wait to get the information. Plus he trusted his security team to take care of Iris. “Ok, but please, just the garage and then right back here to the apartment, okay?

“Okay, I’ll be back in a flash,” Iris said as she smiled a reassuring smile to Barry.

“Duncan, you take care of her. Be on guard every minute you’re with her,” Barry instructed in a stern voice.

“Of course sir, don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”

Barry watched as Iris and Duncan walked down the hallway and disappeared around the corner. He went back into Iris’s apartment and saw on his phone that Cisco had texted him five times to call him ASAP. He dialed Cisco and waited for him to answer.

“What the hell took you so long to call me back,” Cisco yelled.

“I’m sorry man the connection was terrible, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Duncan!”

“What,” Barry asked completely lost as to what Cisco was saying.

“It’s Duncan, the man that took Iris’s epi pen, it’s Duncan, the facial recognition software just completed the extrapolation of his face.”

Barry felt like he had been hit by a truck, he couldn’t find his breath. He couldn’t make sense of it. “Cisco, that can’t be right, he’s been with us for years. He’s one of our best and most trusted.”

“Barry, listen to me it’s true. Not only can I clearly see his face on the video but I’ve started to do an investigation into the last few years of his life that I think you’ll find very interesting, but that can wait. WHERE IS HE RIGHT NOW,” Cisco yelled trying to snap Barry out of his shock.

“Oh my God, Iris,” Barry exclaimed as the horror of what he just did came to his full realization. He had allowed Iris to go off with Duncan and now they were alone together. Barry quickly collected himself and fired off orders to Cisco, “Duncan has Iris, call the rest of the security team, at least the ones you think we can still trust and let them know to keep an eye out for Iris and stop Duncan from taking her anywhere, at all costs. Call me or text me when you have any info.”

Barry ran out of the apartment and down to the elevator and started to slam his hand against the down button. He couldn’t believe that someone he trusted implicitly was mixed up in something so horrible. What if he was too late, he thought. What if he couldn’t find Iris, what if someone succeeded with their plan to harm her. He couldn’t just stand there and wait for the elevator, he found the stairs and flew down them as fast as he could until he reached the garage. He figured that was the best place to start looking for them. He searched around and didn’t see Iris, in fact he didn’t see anyone. But just as he was about to run outside and see if he could spot them he heard a slight squeal coming from behind the storage area. He ran in the direction he heard the noise come from and he could see Duncan struggling with Iris as he tried to force her into the trunk of his car.

Barry rushed to them and yelled, “Duncan, let her go.”

Duncan spun around with Iris in his arms and Barry could see the gun he was holding to Iris’s ribcage. “I don’t take orders from you anymore.”

Barry started to walk slowly to where Duncan was holding Iris, “I don’t understand what’s really going on and I can’t believe that you’re mixed up in any of this but whatever your problem is it’s with me not her, just please let her go,” Barry said in a desperate tone.

“I’ve worked for you a long time. I’ve waited patiently for some recognition, a promotion, some inkling besides your pathetic words that you valued me at your company, but that never came. So when the opportunity presented itself that I could make a shitload of money and also hurt you that was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Duncan said as he now pointed his gun directly at Barry. “ So here’s what’s going to happen: you take one more step, I shoot you and take her, you stand still, I don’t have to shoot you and I take her. Either way she’s coming with me.”

Barry looked at Iris’s terrified face and knew he had to stop this, “Over my dead body.”

Duncan sneered, “That can be arranged.”

Iris screamed to Barry, “Lookout he’s behind you!”

As Barry turned to look behind him he felt the punch hit his jaw like a ton of bricks. As he fell to the ground he felt two swift kicks to his ribcage. As he was trying to get up he felt the prick of a needle in his neck. As his body started to go numb and his vision blurred the last thing he saw was Iris crying and trying to reach out to him. Then Barry was completely unconscious.

Iris recognized the man that assaulted Barry immediately, it was the guy from the auction, the one that looked like Idris Elba, the one that gave her the creeps. Through her tears she screamed at him, “You son of a bitch, what do you want?”   
  
“Iris West you’ll have to come with me. Mr. Thawne desires your company,” Mr Cutter said with a sinister smile on his face.

As Duncan held Iris still Mr. Cutter placed a cloth full of chloroform over her mouth and nose and she immediately lost consciousness.

They placed both Barry and Iris in the trunk of Mr. Cutter’s car and Duncan made a phone call and said, “We’re ready to leave the garage, make sure everyone is either in the building, on the roof or in the back of the building. When it’s clear for us to move text me.”

“We should be clear to go in a few minutes,” Duncan told Mr. Cutter.

“Good help really is hard to find these days, isn’t it? Mr Allen has so many people in his organization that he clearly can’t trust,” Mr. Cutter replied wryly.

“Yeah, it wasn’t hard to convince a couple of guys to join in and help me. Allen money talks, Thawne money whispers.”

Duncan received the all clear text and he and Mr Cutter exited the building undetected.

Edward Thawne was about to have both Iris West and Barry Allen and what he had in store for them was something they never expected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed that. The next chapter will be the final chapter as we wrap up the crazy weekend.
> 
> As I mentioned this is my first fan fiction and it’s so much harder than I ever thought it would be so I want to extend my love and appreciation to all the fan fiction writers out there that make it look so easy and provide so much enjoyment with their work. You all are such an inspiration to me.


	5. Let’s Play a Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your patience. I was expecting to update this much sooner but my life and my health got in the way. 
> 
> At the end of the last chapter I indicated that this would be the final chapter but I am now realizing that this work needs this chapter and one more to complete it and so I apologize that my last statement was incorrect.
> 
> If you are a big fan of Eddie Thawne and really love his character then this chapter may not be for you because he is definitely a demented bad guy in my story.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter and thank you so much for reading my work.

Cisco finally left Iris’s apartment building. He had been there for hours doing a thorough search of Iris’s apartment, all surveillance videos and taking any witness statements that might help. After Barry had told him that Duncan had Iris and he was going after them Cisco rushed over there to try and help, but by the time he arrived Barry and Iris were both gone and only his security team remained. A team that Cisco knew he couldn’t trust, not when Duncan, their most trusted man, had betrayed them in the most heinous way. He had to figure out who else was a mole in their organization but first he had to try and find Barry and Iris. That was going to prove to be a difficult task when the only clue that he had managed to discover was a witness that saw a black Mercedes S550 leaving the apartment building around 10 minutes after Cisco had talked to Barry. That wasn’t much to go on and Cisco had no way to track Barry and Iris since he had found both of their mobile phones there; Barry’s in the parking garage and Iris’s in her apartment. Cisco headed back to AllenTech to continue his investigation on all fronts hoping that Barry would find a way to send him some kind of signal as to where he was.

 

Barry was laying flat on his back as he started to wake up. As he took a deep breath in he felt a sharp pain in his ribcage and memories of what had happened began flooding back to him. Duncan had betrayed him, he had Iris and the Idris Elba doppelgänger had sucker punched him in the jaw, kicked him in the ribs and stuck a needle in his neck. He moved his hand over the sore injection sight on his neck as he turned over on his side and tried to sit up. “Iris,” he said in a groggy tone. “Iris are you here,” Barry asked regaining more of his composure. He listened carefully and couldn’t hear anything and he concluded she wasn’t with him. He had to find her. He was trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness that surrounded him hoping that he could make out some kind of distinguishing features in the room but it was just too dark. He slowly moved his hands around the floor in his vicinity when he felt a box. He took it into both of his hands and he could decipher that it was a matchbox. He opened it, lit a match and tried to see what kind of room he was in. As he stood and walked around the room, lighting match after match, he was intently looking for a way to escape when his feet tripped over an obstacle. It was only then that Barry realized he was barefoot. He lit another match and bent down to see what he had tripped over and as he got closer he screamed in horror and took several quick steps backwards at what he had seen. It was Duncan, dead.

 

Barry lit another match to take a closer look at Duncan. It was clear the man had been tortured before he died. He was covered in blood, bruises and burns. Barry took a deep breath, placed the matchbox down and reached his hand out to touch Duncan’s wrist and whispered, “Duncan, why? Things didn’t have to end this way.”

 

As the lights came on in the room Barry heard a voice say, “But they did Mr. Allen. That man was no longer useful to me. And I couldn’t take the chance that he might grow a conscience and go back to being loyal to you so he had to be eliminated.”

 

The voice that was coming out of the speaker on the wall was familiar to Barry but he couldn’t quite place it. “Who the hell are you? Where’s Iris West? Why are you doing this?”

 

“So many questions, questions, questions. Let me see if I feel like answering any of them. Mmmmmm, no I don’t think so,” the voice said and sinisterly laughed.

 

Barry couldn’t be one hundred percent sure but the voice sounded like Edward Thawne. He had done enough business with him over the years to recognize the slight drawl in his voice, but he couldn’t believe it was him. “Thawne, is that you?”

 

“You figured it out, good. That should make things so much more interesting.”

 

“What things? What are you talking about? Why are you doing this?” Barry asked as his voice expressed both his shock and exasperation in what Thawne was doing.

 

“You know at first this was all about Iris West. What she did to me, how she took away what was most precious to me. I wanted to see her suffer like I did. I wanted her to know the kind of pain that cuts so deep the wound will never heal. And she’s still going to have all that happen to her but by some stroke of luck you and your schoolboy crush on her entered the picture.”

 

As Barry was listening to Thawne he was taking a closer look at the room he was in. There was a metal door in front of him with a large hook hanging over it, the floor was made of steel grates and the grates were getting warmer under his bare feet and there was a faint odor of charcoal in the air . “A stroke of luck,” Barry asked.

 

“Yes, well you see I didn’t know that you were going to the auction. Duncan had been with me that night going over all the super secret plans for AllenTech he was able to cleverly uncover from your trip to the Far East. Had he been on duty with you I would have known of your whereabouts and could have adjusted the plans accordingly. See the original plan was for Mr. Cutter, the gentleman that was bidding against you to the very end, to win the date, take Iris West out, induce her allergy, put her in an ambulance and she comes to me where all the torture would begin. But then you got involved and we all know how that plan ended don’t we.”

 

“So it was time for plan b,” Barry said.

 

“Exactly, except I was growing a bit tired by the whole mess. I pay people to worry for me so I simply instructed Mr. Cutter to bring me Iris West at whatever cost and to dispose of you. But then I thought to himself, Edward, if you’re going to be seeking revenge on Iris West this weekend why not include Barry Allen as well. I mean you haven’t taken as much from me as she has but you’ve taken enough and you have truly been a painful thorn in my side for far too long.”

 

“But I’ve never done anything to personally attack you. Every interaction and communication between us has been about business.”

 

“Just business, huh, nothing personal, that’s rich coming from the man that instituted takeovers of two of my companies, monopolized the tech industry so I will never have a chance of competing and somehow you convinced the Australian government to block my purchase of outback lands that I had been attempting to acquire for years.”

 

“That’s ridiculous,” Barry replied in an angry tone. “I took over those two companies when I discovered how poorly you ran them and how horribly you treated your employees. If you want in on the technology game then you need to have innovative and critical thinking skills that are two steps ahead of everyone else and the reason I had the Australian government block your purchase was because you were planning on taking that sacred Aboriginal land and turning in into a place for hunting indigenous species. Everything you do Thawne is all about you. You don’t care about or think about anyone else.”

 

“Now, that’s where you’re wrong Mr. Allen. I’ve been giving you and Iris West quite a bit of thought. You see, in every life there comes a day of reckoning, a time when unsettled scores demand their retribution. Today is that day for your Barry Allen. Now let’s play a game.”

 

“No more games Thawne, where’s Iris,” Barry yelled.

 

“You want to see Iris? That can be arranged once you’ve played my little game,” Thawne replied in an overly amused tone. “It’s a very simple game. You see the long steel pole and the two buckets filled with flammable liquid behind you. Simply place those buckets on either side of the pole and then take it over to the hook that hangs above the door and balance it on the hook. Think of it as balancing the scales of justice, justice that you owe me for everything you’ve taken from me. Now, are you ready Barry? You don’t mind if I call you Barry, do you?”

 

“You sick bastard! I’m not going to play any game where you use me as a pawn for your distorted amusement,” Barry continued to yell.

 

“Whoops, I think I forgot to mention something. I’m sure you can feel the floor becoming increasingly hot under your bare feet. I’m about to turn that heat up much higher to the point where you might start to smell your own flesh. In two minutes if you haven’t properly balanced my scales of justice flames will engulf this room and you’ll never see your precious Iris West again. But, full disclosure, I think I will show her your charbroiled body just to see the look of horror on her face.”

 

Barry took his sweater off as he could feel the floor growing hotter under his feet. While he was trying to wrap his mind around how twisted Thawne was he knew he had to focus on winning this game because he had to find Iris and save her from this evil man. He quickly but carefully positioned the buckets on each end of the steel pole and lift the pole up to rest on his shoulders. As he made his way to the hook over the door he was trying to keep the flammable contents of the bucket from spilling out but that was becoming increasingly difficult as the floor was burning his feet sending searing pain through his legs.

 

“One minute left,” Thawne sang in a taunting tune.

 

Barry closed his eyes and saw Iris’s face. That beautiful face and sunshine smile that he would fight anyone and anything to see again. The thought of her gave him the strength he needed. He got as close to the hook as possible as quickly and carefully as he could. He lifted the pole off his shoulders, was appreciative of his 6’2 long frame, and gingerly placed it on the hook and tried to position it so that it balanced perfectly. But that wasn’t happening. The pole wasn’t balancing out with the two buckets on either end. If he let go the liquid would spill and ignite the flames under the floor.

 

“30 seconds. 29, 28, 27. I’ve never seen a charbroiled man up close before. I can imagine it’s pretty ghastly. What a great gift for Iris. 21, 20, 19….”

 

As Thawne continued his countdown, Barry was doubting that he could do this. He kept positioning and repositioning the pole with no luck.

  
“7, 6, 5 seconds……”

 

Barry thought this was it, this is the end and then by some miracle, he himself couldn’t believe, the buckets balanced. The pole was in place on the hook just gently rocking up and down. He had done it, through his pain and fear, he completed the task. He exhaled in disbelief.

 

“Thawne, I’ve balanced your scales now open the damn door,” Barry demanded. But flames started to engulf the room, he felt the intense heat closing in on his body and Barry thought he was dead. Then, just as the flames were about to reach him the door opened and he jumped out.

 

Barry laid on the floor for a moment. He was breathing heavily and the adrenaline and fear that was running through his body made his heart feel as if it was trying to break out of his chest. His body and mind were on overload. He tried to catch his breath. He sat up, took off his tee shirt and tore it into pieces and wrapped it around his burned feet hoping that would cover the wounds and keep the burnt flesh in tact. He stood up trying to adjust his weight to accommodate for the extreme pain from his feet. Now he had to find Iris.

 

He started to take in his new surroundings. They were damp and dimly lit and Barry was running out of patience. “Thawne,” Barry screamed, “Where’s Iris? If you so much as touch a hair on her head I will kill you.” There was silence and Barry started to slowly walk through the room. He was proceeding with caution because he wasn’t sure what Thawne had in store for him. As he continued to walk around lights were coming on and Barry assumed that Thawne was watching him, and he was right.

 

“Well done, Barry. I didn’t think you had it in you to win that game but you’re proving to be much more of a worthy adversary than I thought you would be. How about another game? And for this round you’re going to need a partner.”

 

  
Cisco was in his lab at AllenTech headquarters. He was trying to find a lead on the unidentified S550 Mercedes that was seen leaving Iris’s apartment building shortly after he had spoken to Barry. But nothing was turning up. “Man, Barry, where are you,” he asked as he started looking over all files and intelligence he had gathered over the last thirty six hours involving Iris. As he was trying to make connections and draw conclusions he heard a beep coming from his surveillance satellite monitor. He went over to the console to see what was being detected, it was Duncan’s GPS locator on his watch. It had been activated and was showing a location. Cisco didn’t understand. Duncan was a traitor, he had to know the minute that he activated the GPS on his watch it would immediately be detected by AllenTech and they would know his location. But then Cisco considered that perhaps Barry had somehow been able to get Duncan’s watch and this was the signal Cisco was so desperately hoping for. Cisco was trying to determine the exact location but the signal was weak and there was interference at the location of the watch that was making it difficult for Cisco to triangulate. He wasn’t sure if this would be enough to find Barry and Iris.

 

 

As Thawne finished speaking all the lights in the room came on and Barry finally saw Iris. She was in a glass box about twelve feet by twelve feet. She was leaning against one of the walls with her eyes closed. Barry could see that she was trembling and he called out to her but she didn’t move and so he ran over to the box and knocked on the wall. “Iris,” he proclaimed.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him relieved and smiled. “Barry, you’re here. Are you okay? Where are we?”

Barry could see that she was talking but he couldn’t hear her. He motioned to her with his hands over his ears and shaking his head that he couldn’t hear her. She understood and relayed the same message to him because she too couldn’t hear him. Barry began to inspect the box more closely, touching the walls, feeling the edges when he discovered a panel with a button that he immediately pressed. “Iris can you hear me?”

“Yes, oh thank God, yes. Are you okay” Iris asked with both concern and fear in her voice as she took in Barry’s appearance of having no shirt on and his feet wrapped up.

Barry just looked at her for a moment. He couldn’t believe how selfless she was. She’s the one trapped in huge glass box with no exit and her first question was if he was ok. “Yeah, I’m ok. Are you okay? Did Thawne hurt you?”

Iris shook her head no and then asked, “How did you know Thawne was behind this?”

“He and I had a rather unpleasant tête-à-tête that resulted in him having me play a very dangerous and demented game of his. And by the look of you in this box I’d say the games aren’t over.”

Barry and Iris both heard the sound of hyena like laughter as Thawne replied, “Barry Allen you’re not as dumb as you look. You’re right it’s time for you and Iris to play another game.”

“The hell we are, Thawne,” Barry declared. Barry started looking around the room more carefully. He was trying to find something that could open the glass to release Iris so they could escape. As Iris was intently watching Barry she was startled when she saw water beginning to gush into her glass prison through the open pipe in the corner. “Oh my God, Barry look,” Iris cried out.

Barry ran over to her to inspect what was going on. Water was indeed gushing in and at the rate it was going it wouldn’t be too long before the entire box was filled with water and given Iris’s petite frame she would be underwater and without oxygen in about ten minutes, maybe less.

“Barry, what are we going to do?”

Barry ran around to where the water was pouring in but of course there was no way to turn the water off. He saw a chair in the corner and he had to take the chance of cutting Iris if it meant getting her out of there. “Iris, stand back! Cover your eyes and face!”

Barry lifted the chair and through it against the glass with every fiber of his being. But it didn’t even crack. Barry realized that it wasn’t glass and Thawne had thought of everything.

“Dammit Thawne, how do I get her out?”

“I was wondering when you were going to ask for my help. I was getting so lonely. How do you get her out, you ask. You play a game of course. In fact, Iris, you should love this, it’s a word game. This will be right up your journalistic alley.”

Tears were starting to run down Iris’s face, “Thawne, why are you doing this? What did I do to you that you have so much hatred for me?”

“You use your words to influence and control what people think. Your words have become weapons and you twist those words for your own purposes. You become judge, jury and executioner for all the people that you deem unworthy and unfit by your unreasonable standards. Every truth that you claim is helping Central City is in fact a truth that a double meaning. Every word has a double meaning. Why don’t you try and shift your perceptions and finally realize my truth. Do hurry though, I’m not sure how long she can hold her breath under water.”

As Thawne finished speaking a spotlight shined on a board with moveable letters. Barry rushed over to the board to examine it as Iris was now jumping up and down in the glass tank, the water already up to her thighs.

“The eyeS a despERatIon,” Barry read out aloud completely confused. “What does it mean? It makes no sense. Thawne we need more information than this.”

“The eyeS a despERatIon,” Iris read it aloud, her panic was growing as the water was rising. “It has to mean something.”

“Have you ever heard it or seen it before,” Barry asked.

“No, it’s gibberish. I don’t under….wait, wait, Barry look, why aren’t they all the same. The letters in the words some are in caps the others aren’t. Maybe those letters start new words.”

Barry looked at the board again and began to move the letters around he put the T, S, R, E and I on the left side of the board, “ Right, what did he say, shift your perception.”

“Yes, change the way you see things, change the way you see the words, it’s an anagram,” Iris exclaimed.

“An anagram, where the true meaning is scrambled in the words he’s given us. It’s a word puzzle.”

Iris was amazing at word puzzles. Between her love of word searches, crosswords, scrabble and sudoku she knew how to figure them out but with the water now reaching her chest and fear clouding her judgement she wasn’t sure how good her prowess would be.

Iris started moving the letters in her head as Barry was trying to figure it out on the board. “Iris what about They,” Barry asked.

Iris could see he was right and knew what was next as she said, “Barry it’s, They See a,”

Barry rearranged the letters to spell that out and as he turned to look at Iris he saw that the water was right under her chin. He turned his attention back to the board and said, “Come on, come on, come on…..think.” They had already found the anagram in The eyeS now they had to find the anagram in despERatIon.

“Rope,” Iris shouted has her head went under the water. She was fighting to push herself up and grab oxygen and tell Barry the rest of what she had figured out but the water now had the best of her.

Barry rearranged the letters to spell Rope and he repeated the sentence he had so far, “They See a Rope, They See a Rope……... Iris what is the rest…” As he turned to look at Iris she was completely under water, struggling and fighting against it. “Iris hold on,” Barry shouted. He studied the letters, moving them around in different positions until he finally figured out they spelled Ends It. “They See a Rope Ends It, …….dammit, that doesn’t make any sense either. Maybe we’re wrong, maybe it’s, wait…..wait…….Iris wrote that article about the lady that killed herself by hanging after being found guilty of trafficking women and children, what was her name, what was her name Agatha……..Agatha……….. …….Hawnet……Hawnet…….. what did Thawne say, double meaning, the truth is in a double meaning. Thawne. Oh my God Hawnet is an anagram for Thawne. It’s about Agatha Hawnet,” Barry screamed but he knew Iris couldn’t hear him and as he turned to look at her he saw her eyes close.

Barry fell to his knees completely out of breath and watched as Iris’s lifeless body floated in the water. “Thawne you bastard I figured it out, let her go. Please let her go.” And as Barry lowered his head in defeat and closed his eyes a wall of the tank shattered and water came rushing out carrying Iris’s body. Barry was knocked off his knees and got swept away but managed to hold on to a pillar and anchor himself as he made his way over to Iris.

She started coughing and spitting out water and Barry was so relieved. He scooped her up in his arms and held her tight. She was shivering as Barry said, “You’re okay baby, I’ve got you. You’re okay.” Iris looked up into Barry’s eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck and she held him just as tight. As they got lost in each other, relieved that they were alive and together, the lights started to go out in the room.

“Barry we have to get out of here now,” Iris said fearfully.

“Come on,” Barry said as he took Iris’s hand. As they walked they saw a bright light come on and as they approached it they saw it was shining on a staircase that led to a door.

“What do you think,” Iris asked.

“I think that there is no other exit out of this room so we’re going to have see where these stairs lead despite the fact that I’m sure Thawne is leading us into another trap.”

Iris squeezed Barry’s hand, looked up into his eyes and said, “As long as we’re together.”

Barry gave her a small smile and they proceeded up the stairs cautiously not sure what was behind the door. Barry stepped in front of Iris bracing himself to have to protect her from whatever they encountered. He slowly opened the door and as it creaked and squealed it’s way open, it was a small, empty, dark space. Barry stepped inside trying to see anything that would help. “It’s pretty dark, it’s making it hard to see anything.”

“Here let me see,” Iris said as she stepped in behind Barry. She was trying to make out anything that would help. As soon as Iris fully entered the small space, the lights came on and they started moving upwards. They both realized they were in an elevator.

The elevator was slowly ascending and the air was becoming more thick and putrid. “Where do you think he’s taking us,” Iris looked up to Barry and asked.

“I don’t know Iris but I know we’re going to get out of this and away from him,” Barry said in his most reassuring voice despite the overwhelming doubts that he had in his head. He knew that whatever the next game Thawne had planned would be more dangerous and life threatening than the other two and he didn’t know if he would be able to save Iris let alone save himself. He was worried, in fact he was terrified, but he would never show that to Iris. He would never scare her like that. He was determined to stay strong for her, protect her at all costs. He could only hope that Cisco was able to pick up Duncan’s GPS locator and was on his way to help.

“Barry I’m so sorry, this is all my fault,” Iris whispered through the tears that were falling down her face.

Barry looked at Iris completely taken aback at what she had said. “What are talking about? None of this is your fault. Thawne is a demented, deranged man and blames you for something that is not your fault. You cannot blame yourself Iris.”

“But I can. I heard what you said despite being underwater, Agatha Hawnet, Hawnet is an anagram for Thawne. I can’t believe I didn’t make that distinction while I was investigating her. I single handedly brought down her very lucrative business of trafficking women and children into prostitution all over the world. It was after she was convicted and sentenced to life in prison that she hung herself. When I was researching her I had come across the information that she had given birth to a son but my research indicated that the baby was stillborn. But now I think that information was somehow misrepresented most likely to protect her son from her criminal life. Thawne blames me for his mother’s death and now he……” Iris couldn’t continue as she started sobbing.

“Come here Iris,” Barry said he reached out and took Iris into his arms. She buried her face into his bare chest and he gently kissed the top her head. He started to rub circles on her back in effort to calm her and stop her from crying so hard. “Shhh Iris, shhh, it’s going to be okay.”

Iris pulled her face away from Barry’s chest but she didn’t break the embrace they were in as she looked up and asked him, “How can you say that? I’m the reason you’re here. I’m the reason you’re here in this dark, dank, hellhole on an elevator going to God knows where with no shirt on and feet that look like they’ve been through world war three. If you hadn’t won that stupid date you would be safe right now.” Iris said as she once again buried her face into Barry’s chest.

“Iris look at me,” Barry said, but when she shook her head no he took his hands and lovingly placed them on either side of her face and tilted her head up to look at him. “Iris from the moment I saw you, from the moment I looked into your eyes there was something about you I knew. I knew that I wanted to know every part of you. I wanted to understand every thought that came from you. I wanted to be the man that laughs with you, challenges you, loves you and touches you. I’ve wanted all of that and more since the moment I saw you and if everything we have to go through this weekend takes us to a place where we can be together and have all that then it’s all been worth it. There is no place I’d rather be right now than right here by your side to keep you safe and make sure we get out of this alive.”

Iris couldn’t believe what Barry was saying. Despite the grave situation they found themselves in here was this incredibly brave man being so open and honest about how he felt. No man had said the words to her that Barry had, let alone a man that she had only known for thirty six hours. Overcome with so much emotion, so many feelings, Iris got on her tiptoes and kissed Barry. She pressed her lips firmly against his and he readjusted her face in his hands and opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. They both pulled away in unison and rested their foreheads together as Barry kept her face in his hands.

“I swear to you Iris, I will get you out of here and away from Thawne. But you have to promise me something,” he pulled his forehead away from Iris and looked deeply into her eyes. “If it comes to the point where you have to choose between saving yourself and staying here with me, promise me you’ll go.”

“Barry, no way, we’re in…..

“Iris,” Barry exclaimed and held her even closer to his body with a firmer grip on her face, “Promise me. You have to save yourself first. Thawne wants you dead at all costs, I’m just a pawn for his amusement. If you can get out, you go and get help and then bring them back here to save me.”

“But Barry, I can’t just leave…..

“Yes you can. Now promise me Iris.”

Iris started to cry again as she said, “I promise.”

Barry wiped the tears from her eyes and pulled her into a tight, warm hug. He held her and calmed her down and just as he was about to suggest they try and figure out a plan the elevator stopped.

Barry released Iris and immediately tried to get the door open but it wouldn’t budge. Iris tried to help him hoping that their combined strength would be able to force the door open, but still not luck.

“What now?” asked Iris.

“I can answer that.” Barry and Iris recognized that unmistakable voice and they both turned to see Thawne emerge from the darkness. He slowly and purposefully walked over to them and stared at Barry and Iris through the chain link wall of the elevator. It was a stare that gave Iris a chill and she moved closer to Barry and took his hand. “It’s time for you two to die.”

“Thawne, listen to me,” Barry pleaded. “Let Iris go. I’ll give you whatever you want. Any amount of money, any designs from AllenTech, anything you want, just please let her go.”

Thawne stared at Barry for a minute and then asked, “What if I want it all?”

“All?” Barry asked.

“I want you to sign over AllenTech to me. The entire corporation, the stocks, the patents, the rights, everything. Would you do that to ensure the release of Iris West?”

Without hesitation Barry replied, “Yes, you let her go and drop your vendetta against her and it’s all yours.”

“Barry, you can’t do that. AllenTech is your whole world, everything you’ve worked for and built your entire life, you can’t just hand it over to him. What will you do without it?” Iris asked not quite believing what Barry was considering doing.

“None of it means anything to me compared to how I feel about you and your wellbeing. Now do we have a deal Thawne? Barry asked.

“Wait!” Iris exclaimed. “Barry I can’t let you do this. Thawne I’m the one you want. I’m the one that ruined your life. I’m the one responsible for your mother’s death. Do whatever you want to me but please let Barry go.”

Thawne started to laugh and clap his hands together, “ You two really are so entertaining, pathetic but entertaining. Look at you both begging and pleading with desperation in your eyes hoping to save the other. Actually this could be quite touching in a Hallmark moment kind of way. But here’s the thing kids, I never had any intention of letting either one of you go. I’ve wanted nothing more than to see you both suffer in the cruelest way. I wanted to bring you both to the very brink of death only to snap you back so that you would understand what true pain and agony feel like. I wanted you to know what it felt like to have no hope and feel your spirit break under the weight of defeat. And now I want you both to die, especially you Iris. I want my mother to finally rest in peace knowing her murderer has been killed at my hand.” He stepped closer to the elevator and pulled out a remote control and placed his thumb on the button. “There is an explosive charge attached to the elevator cable above your head, once I press this button you’ll both free fall to your deaths.”

Barry and Iris looked up and saw the explosive. Barry thought if he could get close enough to it he could perhaps disable it but he had no way of accessing it and so he was left desperately looking around the elevator for any way to escape. Iris pressed her forehead to the elevator’s chain link wall and pleaded with Thawne, “Please, please, I’m begging you, please let Barry go. He had nothing to do with your mother’s death. He’s innocent in all this, please. I’m so sorry. I’m so…..” She tried to continue but she started to cry and Barry came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

Thawne stared at Iris watching the tears fall down her face as he said, “I never thought I’d hear you say sorry. That was all that I ever wanted to hear from you Iris.”

Barry, Iris and Thawne all stared at each other for what felt like an eternity and then Thawne pressed the button and elevator went into a free fall.

Barry and Iris were both thrown to the floor as the elevator was speeding to its descent and Barry was trying to get to Iris to hold her and comfort her in these last fleeting moments of their lives. Barry knew all too well that the possibility of them surviving this was slim to none.   
Iris was screaming Barry’s name. She too was trying to get to him longing to feel his arms around her to feel any bit of comfort, as if that was even possible. Barry was able to grab Iris’s hand and just as he did the elevator stopped. Barry and Iris looked at each other with shock all over their faces. And as they both began to get up the elevator began to fall again. Iris was trying to figure out what was happening. Was Thawne playing yet another sick game, prolonging the torture of their inevitable deaths or was something else going on. She didn’t know how much more of this she could take. She closed her eyes waiting and as she did the elevator stopped again and she heard Barry scream.

As she opened her eyes Barry was hanging out of the floor of the elevator. They hadn’t realized that the elevator had a trap door in its floor and with the velocity of the elevator falling and stopping so abruptly the door had opened and Barry had fallen through and now he was hanging on with just one hand.

“Barry,” Iris screamed as she quickly crawled over to Barry. “Hold on. Barry I’ve got you, get your other hand up here to secure yourself,” Iris said as she clung to his arm that was holding on to the elevator floor.

The fear that was coursing through Barry’s body was overwhelming him but he looked at Iris and knew that he could do this for her and for himself. He swayed the momentum of his body and stretched to reach up and secure his other hand on the elevator floor.

“Ok, good. Now come on Barry get your leg up here and I’ll pull you in,” Iris said as she was trying to reach the waistband on Barry’s pants to help pull him into the elevator. She figured that was her best plan since she couldn’t get a good grip on his arm, not enough of a grip to pull him up.

As Iris was reaching and Barry was trying to get his leg up on the elevator floor they both heard Thawne yell to someone, “You stupid bastard, the elevator stalled, get it falling now.”

Barry knew they didn’t have much time. He used every bit of strength he had left and propelled his foot and leg on the elevator floor and he could feel Iris pulling on his waistband and just as he was about to pull himself up the elevator violently jolted, Barry lost his grip on the elevator floor and just as he was about to fall Iris caught him.

Iris was holding on to Barry’s arm for dear life. It was taking both her arms and all her strength just to keep from dropping him. She was trying to pull him up but despite Barry’s lean physique he was still 6’2 and mostly muscle.

“Barry you have to help me. I’m going to bend over try to use your other hand to grab onto my shirt or shoulder or any part of me and try to pull yourself up,” Iris said through her gritted teeth, her voice full of fear.

Barry tried to grab onto Iris but it was proving difficult. Between the sweat on his hands and the sweat on her body he really couldn’t get a good grip on her and he could feel his arm slowly slipping through Iris’s hands. “Iris look at me,” Barry said in an unusually calm voice.

“No” Iris shouted. “I don’t want to look at you. I want you to reach up and grab on to me and get back in this elevator. I’m not doing this without you Barry Allen.” She used every bit of strength she had and grunted loudly as she tried to pull him up.

“Iris,” Barry said much louder to get her attention. Even though she didn’t want to, she looked into his beautiful green eyes. Eyes that were the most unnerving combination of affection and fear. “What?” She said her voice filled with exhaustion and despair.

Barry looked at her and smiled as he said, “I love you pretty lady.”

Iris gasped a shaky breath, smiled an uneven smile and said, “I love you too,” and as they both looked deeply at each other the stillness of the moment was shattered as the elevator jolted again and Iris lost her grip on Barry.

“NO, BARRRY, NO,” Iris screamed as she watched the man she loved fall into the darkness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I hope to update as soon as I can.
> 
> Thank you so much for your kind comments. Fan fiction writing is so difficult and there have been times that I wanted to quit this story out of my own fear and self doubt, but reading your comments and kudos has really given me strength and courage and I appreciate you all so very much. So again, thank you.


	6. This Is It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience. This update took me a little longer than I anticipated. Your support has meant the world to me and I really hope you enjoy this final chapter of Barry and Iris’s unbelievable weekend.

“BARRRRRY, BARRRRRY,” Iris continued to scream until she had no voice left. She was shaking and crying and staring into the black abyss that she had watched Barry fall into. She couldn’t believe it. In one moment he had been right there in her grasp and then in the next moment he was gone. She closed her eyes and all she could see was Barry’s face when he told her he loved her. That sweet face filled with warmth and affection, those eyes that she could get lost in, the lips that she wished she could kiss just one last time. She longed to feel his hand in hers again and she cursed a fate so cruel as to bring her such a love only to have her watch it die right in front of her. Iris felt a wave of helplessness wash over her. With Barry by her side she thought they might have had a chance to defeat Thawne and make it out of his hell alive, but now she was alone, the elevator was sure to drop any minute and she really had no strength to go on. She looked into that black abyss again wondering if she shouldn’t join her love and jump.

“Can’t you hear me, I’m pretty sure Allen is dead. Now fix the elevator to drop so that bitch will be dead and we can get the hell out of here.”

“Thawne,” Iris whispered in a most venomous tone. Just hearing his voice made Iris’s blood boil. He had killed Barry. He had murdered the man that stole her heart all because of his sick vendetta against her. She now felt a new wave of emotions overcome her. Her helplessness turned into fury and rage and any thoughts she had of joining Barry now turned to thoughts of making Thawne pay. She couldn’t let Barry’s murder go unanswered, she had to avenge him.

She wiped her tears and steadied herself. She knew time was of the essence. If she had one chance in a million to escape she was going to have to figure it out post haste. She quickly looked around the elevator again but knew that would prove to be futile; before the elevator dropped both she and Barry had determined that there was no escape. As Iris was weighing her options a glint of light caught her eye. On the wall of the elevator shaft Iris could see there was some type of metal. She got closer to the cross link fence wall of the elevator to examine the metal and she realized that it was planks attached to the shaft wall that made a ladder that, as far as Iris could see, went all the way up the elevator shaft. While that ladder would certainly help her out of the shaft she still had to get out of the elevator.

“Ok, Iris you can do this. Think, dammit, think. What if I, yeah, yeah that might work, it has to work. The only shot I have is to lower myself out of this trap door in the floor, slowly use my hands to reach around and get to the front of the elevator and then inch myself over to the corner of the elevator and jump onto the wall and hopefully catch one of the metal planks to hold onto. Which now that I think it through sounds like a terrible plan. Maybe I could……

And just as Iris was trying to think of another plan that didn’t including hurling her body against a brick wall the elevator jolted and she knew she only had a few moments tops. Iris’s mind was in overdrive and the adrenaline coursing through her was resulting in her almost having a panic attack so she closed her eyes and thought of Barry. Thought of everything he had done to try and protect her and what he had sacrificed in the end. The thought of him gave her the strength she needed.

She lowered herself through the trap door, luckily her arms were long enough to reach and grab the front of the elevator. When she steadied herself she had one hand overlap the other as she made her way to the corner of the outside of the elevator. It was a sharp edge and she had to be careful not to scratch herself when she jumped. She took a deep breath in, let it out slowly and jumped towards the wall. She hit hard and felt the wind get knocked out of her but she had enough presence of mind to catch the metal plank and hold on. A smile of relief washed across her face but it didn’t last long as the elevator started to shake. There was very little room between the wall and the elevator, barely enough for Iris’s body to fit in between. She started to climb as fast as she could in such a tight space. She was almost clear of the elevator when it started to jolt & shake more violently. Iris held on to the planks for support, knowing the elevator was about to fall, and as it did she screamed as loud as she could. She wasn’t sure if Thawne was still listening but if he was she wanted to put on a good show for him, convince him her final moments were filled with fear.

After the elevator crashed into the black abyss Iris clung to the wall remaining still and silent. If she was going to get Thawne the best advantage she had was the element of surprise, no one could know that she didn’t perish when the elevator fell. She waited until she was sure no one was listening and then she began her long journey up the shaft until she could find an opening that could take her back inside wherever Thawne was holding her. She climbed and climbed all the while thinking of Barry and hearing what he said. She replayed it in her mind to give her strength, “I love you pretty lady.” Pretty lady. Iris wondered why Barry choose that nickname for her. What is a nickname or just a term of affection. Whatever it was Iris loved it and would give anything to hear it one more time.

And as grief was once again about to overwhelm her she saw a light just a few feet above her. She climbed until she realized that the light was coming from underneath a doorway. She wondered what was behind the door & possibly who was behind the door. It could be Thawne or one of his men, but that was a chance Iris was going to have to take. She didn’t know if she had the strength to keep climbing and she didn’t know if there would be another door further up the shaft. Iris braced herself against the wall with her left hand folded tightly around the metal plank for stability and then she slowly turned the door handle and as the door creaked open Iris cautiously looked inside and realized that it was a small utility closet. She lifted her right leg up in the door frame and with her right hand she used the doorknob to pull herself inside the closet where she promptly fell on her back, took some deep breaths in and out and rested for just a minute. As she was trying to regain her strength and stamina from the long climb, she took in the surroundings she now found herself in. The room was hot, there were several electrical panels on the walls, cable wiring was running along the floor and in the corner were some coveralls, a baseball hat, a broom and a tool box. When Iris saw the coveralls she immediately knew they would make a great disguise or at least it would help her move around more freely because she was sure wherever she was Thawne had a multitude of cameras everywhere. She stood up and put the coveralls and hat on and went through the toolbox and placed a screwdriver and a small hammer in her pockets. With what she had been through she knew she would probably need something to defend herself with.

Iris pressed her ear to the door and listened to determine if she could hear any type of noise or any voices. After several minutes she didn’t hear anything and she proceeded to open the door. She quickly studied the long, dimly lit hallway that was in front of her. There was nothing in the hallway except several doors that undoubtedly led to others rooms or perhaps even an escape. She exited the utility closet and cautiously walked down the hallway. With each doorway she came to she tried the handles and discovered that all the doors were locked but the last one she tried. She hesitated before she opened the door. If Thawne was inside she really didn’t have a plan for how she would confront him and make him…..

“Don’t move.” Iris froze as she heard the man’s voice bark the order at her and felt the pressure of a metal object in her back, an object that felt like the barrel of a gun. “This isn’t the best disguise for you Ms. West, most electricians don’t have a body like yours. Well, well I’m not sure how you survived that fall but Mr. Thawne will be quite annoyed that you’re still alive.”

Iris realized that it was the Idris Elba doppelgänger that kept showing up like a cockroach that wouldn’t die. As she was considering her options she felt the barrel of the gun being pressed more deeply into her back as he said, “I think it’s time I take you to Mr. Thawne, now move, open the door.” He pushed Iris into the door that was unlocked and when she opened it she saw that it was a staircase that led to a garage.

“What are you waiting for, MOVE,” he again pushed Iris, she lost her balance and almost fell down the stairs. As she attempted to regain her balance she saw her chance, she reached into the pocket of her coveralls pulled out the screwdriver and stabbed Mr. Cutter in the arm. He screamed and dropped the gun and as he lunged for Iris she averted his grasp and he fell down the stairs. Iris picked up the gun and placed it in her pocket. She ran down the stairs and confirmed that Mr. Cutter was unconscious. She quickly looked around the garage to see if there was anything to bind his hands and feet and luckily she saw some duct tape on the work bench. She hogtied his hands and feet and put a piece of duct tape over his mouth to keep him from alerting Thawne.

“I’ll be right back, let me just get my bag from the garage,” Iris heard a man’s voice say loudly and she proceeded to hide behind the door she presumed the man was about to enter. She reached into her pocket and grabbed the gun and stood ready to protect herself. The door to the garage opened and a large man she had never seen before walked in. When he saw Mr. Cutter laying unconscious on the ground he rushed over to him to check his condition and just as he was about to turn around and run Iris took the butt of the gun and knocked the man out, rendering him unconscious too. She then bound his hands, feet and mouth so he couldn’t alert Thawne.

“Miller, what the hell is taking so long, come on.” Iris immediately recognized Thawne’s voice and now she knew what she had to do. She had to finish this, finish him, avenge Barry. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and placed the gun back in her pocket but she made sure her hand had a firm grasp on the gun so she could retrieve it at a moments notice. She opened the door, walked outside and surveyed where she was. She couldn’t believe it, she was in Coast City, she recognized it immediately. From her vantage point, she could see the ocean, the location that Thawne had her in was perched high on a bluff overlooking the beautiful, blue water. As she looked around she saw Thawne standing in front of a helicopter. Iris concluded that Thawne was getting ready to leave town and the man she knocked out was his pilot. She tightened her grip around the gun, with Thawne’s back to her it would be so easy just to shoot him, be done with it, kill this evil man and prevent him from hurting anyone else. But despite all the hatred she felt for him she wondered if she was really capable of killing a person in cold blood. She was filled with so many conflicting emotions and she wished Barry was here to help her. She wondered what he would do. But she would be snapped out of her stream of consciousness when Thawne again yelled, “Miller, what the hell are you doing?”

Thawne turned around and started to walk towards the garage but abruptly stopped when he saw Iris standing there. He stared at her for a few moments with a look of confusion & frustration on his face. He started to chuckle through exasperated breaths. Those chuckles turned to full on laughter. A laugh that was full of sinister intentions, just like the man the laugh came from.

“I can’t imagine what you could find funny Thawne,” Iris angrily replied. “You should know that all this is over. You are going to prison for the rest of your life for killing Barry. I’m going to make it my mission to see that you are not only put in prison forever, but that everyone in Central City and around the country knows exactly what kind of sick, sinister, son of a bitch you are and then I’m going to make sure that all of your companies and holdings are sold off, your name is stripped from everything that you’ve ever built. I’m going to destroy you and then I’m going to make sure your legacy is completely irrelevant.”

“Well then let me tell you something,” Thawne said in a low voice as he slowly starting walking towards Iris. “ I don’t know how you survived that elevator fall but now that I see you have I’m going to make it my sole purpose in life to make sure that you’re dead. You can put me in jail, hell you can put me under the jail, you can take everything I own and strip my name off of everything I’ve been a part of but it won’t ever stop me from wanting to see you dead and making sure that becomes a reality. Do you really think putting me in prison will stop me? Every time you leave your home or work you’ll wonder is this the day Thawne will get me. You’ll be leaving a concert or out to grab a coffee and hear a noise and you’ll jump because you’ll wonder was that Thawne trying to come after me. You won’t know a moment of peace as long as I’m alive because I’m going to invade your thoughts and stalk your very existence.”

“Stop right there, don’t take another step,” Iris yelled as she pulled out the gun from her pocket and secured it in both her hands as she pointed it directly at Thawne.

“Aren’t you full of surprises Ms. West. Go ahead, do it. Pull the trigger. Kill me. That’s the only way you’ll ever be free of me,” Thawne taunted.

“No, when I put you in prison for Barry’s murder I’ll make sure you’re in solitary confinement, no access to anyone or anything,” Iris countered.

“Are you sure about that? A prison guard that wants to make a little extra money, my lawyer that doesn’t mind bending the law to suit my needs. You see Ms. West we live in a world where there is always a person willing to sell their soul to a devil like me.”

It was in that moment that Iris knew he was right. She would never, ever be free of Thawne as long as he was alive. She would always be a prisoner to the idea of what Thawne would do to her. Her index finger slowly started pulling the trigger.

“Do it, pull the trigger. End this. Free yourself. Make me pay for taking your Barry away from you. Do it. Do it.”

Thawne mentioning Barry’s name sent Iris over the edge. He had taken the man she loved away from her and he would be sure to torture her for the rest of her life. Her heart was racing, her breathing was becoming more erratic and her body was starting to shake. Her finger was pulling the trigger back and just as she was about to shoot Thawne she heard,

“Iris!”

She stopped. In fact the whole world around her seemed to stop. She knew that voice, but it couldn’t be. There was no way. She kept her body facing forward and her eyes trained on Thawne. She was overcome with so many emotions, too many, so much so that it was effecting her thought process and judgement.

“Iris, it’s me!”

“NO! I don’t know who you are but I have no doubt this is another game or trick that Thawne is perpetrating. You’re not going to stop me from doing what has to be done. I’m going to kill Thawne for killing Barry and I’m going to free myself and the world from this type of evil. So if you want to stop me you’re going to have to tackle me and rip this gun from my hands,” Iris yelled in a high pitched voice.

“Well, what are you waiting for,” Thawne whispered. “Do it, kill me. What are you afraid of?”

“Go to hell,” Iris said as she looked him up and down and began to pull the trigger again.

“Iris, no, listen to me, please, please. This is not who you are. You are not a cold blooded killer. You believe in truth, due process, justice. You fight for the laws and values that people hold most dear. Don’t let this piece of trash take that away from you. Don’t sink to his level of malevolence. If you do this, if you kill him, then I won’t be able to save you from the law and we’ll never be together. And that’s all that I want, to spend the rest of my life with you, pretty lady.”

Iris gasped. She was so sure that it couldn’t be Barry. She was so afraid to even let herself have the smallest bit of hope that she didn’t dare entertain the notion. But there was no one that knew that Barry called her pretty lady, except Barry himself. As she turned around to confirm with her eyes what her heart already knew Thawne rushed her and attempted to grab the gun. They struggled and as Iris shifted her weight to knee Thawne in the groin they both fell to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye Iris could see a figure approaching them but any hope she had of help was gone when the gun went off.

The feel of the discharge reverberated through Iris’s body. Thawne was laying lifeless on top of her. Iris had her eyes closed trying to process what just happened. She pushed him off of her and rolled over onto her knees and then she felt it. The touch that she was sure was lost forever. Then she heard it again, that voice, only this time it was much softer when it said her name, “Iris.” She opened her eyes and it was him, it was her Barry alive and kneeling right in front of her.

“Iris, oh my God, are you okay? Iris?”

She could see his lips moving but she couldn’t hear what he was saying. She was still in utter disbelief. Disbelief that Barry was alive, disbelief that Thawne had been shot, disbelief that any of this was real. She looked at Barry and tears started to form in her eyes. She wanted so desperately to reach out and touch him but there was still the smallest bit of doubt that he might not be real. With her hand shaking she reached out and touched his face. His eyes closed, he exhaled deeply and leaned into her touch and with that he finally understood.

“Yes, baby, it’s really me. I’m alive. Come here, come to me.” Barry pulled Iris up off the grassy ground and hugged her tight, held her close and when he kissed the top of her head he could feel her start to cry.

“Sshh, it’s ok, sshh, I’m right here. Come on let’s get away from him.” Barry released Iris momentarily to walk her away from Thawne’s body. As he took her closer to the edge of the bluff, he stopped and took her face in his hands, “Iris are you ok? Did he hurt you?”

“No, no he didn’t,” she replied. Iris had regained enough of her composure to answer him. She finally took a moment and really looked at Barry. Between the shock of seeing him and what happened with Thawne Iris hadn’t really taken in what Barry looked like and she realized it was bad. His face was cut in several places and dried blood now resided along his jawline and neck. His forearm and a gash in it that Barry had tried to make some kind of tourniquet for. His left shoulder was swollen and there was some swelling under his ribcage and she was honestly scared to even know what his legs looked like under his pants. If these were his external injuries he could be suffering from significant internal injuries.

Iris ran her fingers through Barry’s hair and caressed the side of injured face, “Barry are you okay? What happened? I saw you fall, how did you survive that?”

Barry exhaled with an incredulous chuckle, “Cisco.”

“Cisco? What do you mean? He found us? How?”

“Duncan had a location tracker in his watch, all AllenTech employees do. When I found his body in that awful room Thawne trapped me in I was able to activate the tracker. Cisco picked up the signal and began tracing it but because of this remote location and some slight damage to the watch he was having trouble pinpointing exactly where we were.”

“Thank God he’s so good at what he does, I mean he found this place, but how did he know about the elevator,” Iris asked as she continued to gingerly caress the back of Barry’s neck.

“Cisco has been developing some very advanced and detail oriented surveillance technology. The type of tech that allows someone to basically x ray a building and then hack into all of their electronic systems and devices. He was able to use his new prototype to x ray this location. By some miracle he arrived just as the charge on the elevator blew he hacked into the electrical system that powered the elevator and tried to stop it.”

“Oh my God, so there was no malfunction on Thawne’s part, it was Cisco that was trying to stop it and help us.”

“Exactly. When Cisco realized the elevator was falling he concluded that Thawne was probably behind it, given everything that Thawne had already put us through, and he knew he had to stop it. The only problem was that Thawne had his people working on it too, that’s why Cisco couldn’t get complete control over the elevators system and that’s why it eventually fell.”

Iris closed her eyes and exhaled. She began to gently cry. Barry stepped closer to her so that it was only centimeters that separated them. Iris opened her eyes and looked up at Barry almost afraid to ask her next question. “Barry, when you slipped out of my grasp, when I felt you leave me, it was like a part of me died. I felt so guilty that I hadn’t been able to save you. How did you survive that fall?”

Barry grasped Iris’s face with a firmer grip as he said, “Look at me. There is nothing for you to ever feel guilty about. The day I met you was the day you saved me. Saved me from a life that was empty and hollow. A life that had no love. There’s no doubt in my mind that you’re everything to me.” Barry gently kissed Iris’s forehead and then he wiped away her tears with his thumb. “And to answer your question, it was Cisco that saved me from the fall.”

“How?”

“The thing you need to know about Cisco is that he always comes prepared, probably over prepared. And when I say prepared, I mean he brings the most state of the art, advanced tech the world has ever seen. AllenTech has been working on a new polymer rubber alloy. It’s to be used to absorb the maximum amount of shock and weight but the beauty of it is that it’s lightweight and easily malleable. When Cisco realized he might not be able to stop the elevator from falling he placed two large pieces of the polymer at the bottom of the elevator shaft to try and at least soften the impact of the collision. When I fell on the polymer, it, for all intents and purposes broke my fall. When I landed I was knocked unconscious and Cisco pulled me out and tried to revive me and tend to my wounds.”

“So that’s why you didn’t call out to me. And Cisco had no idea where I was.”

“Exactly. If I had been awake I would have found a way to get to you and save you. I can’t believe you got out of that elevator death trap all by yourself. You are so amazing and you clearly don’t need me because you’re a total badass,” Barry smiled as he put his arms around Iris as much as he could with his injuries.

Iris smiled a genuine smile. She felt like she hadn’t smiled in 10 years with all the trauma she had been through. “Well, thank you for the compliment but you’re wrong, I’m always going to need you Barry Allen.”

“And I’m always going to be here with you my pretty lady.”

Iris rose to her tiptoes and gave Barry a gentle kiss. “So where’s Cisco now?”

“That’s what I’d like to know.”

Iris’s grip on Barry tightened at the sound of that voice. Both she and Barry simultaneously turned their heads to see Thawne standing pointing the gun directly at them.

Barry quickly positioned himself in front of Iris hoping to protect her as he listened to Thawne’s strained voice say, “Well this is déjà vu isn’t it? Me standing in front of the worlds most sickeningly perfect couple trying to kill them. You two just won’t die will you? I keep trying and you keep living. You know with as much as I’m bleeding and how I’m feeling this is probably going to be the last thing I do before I die but if the last thing I see is your lifeless bodies it will all be worth it.”

“Thawne accept this is finally over. You’re about to bleed out, you don’t have much time left, give it up. Put the gun down and let us help you get to a hospital,” as Barry was talking to Thawne he could feel Iris place the small hammer from her pocket very surreptitiously in his hand, and as if they already had an unspoken language Barry knew what Iris was thinking.

“You know what I want more than help or a hospital, I want Iris West dead.”

“But that’s not going to happen. You might have the strength to fire one bullet and I’m quite sure we can dodge that but in the off chance you should hit one of us you’re going to hit me because I’m going to shield her with my body. And then you will have failed again because that’s what you are Thawne, a disappointing, maniacal failure at everything you do.”

“Go to hell Allen!”

“You first Thawne,” and with that Barry threw the hammer at Thawne distracting him so that he could tackle him to the ground. It wasn’t much of a tackle given Barry’s current condition but it was enough for Iris to grab the gun and hold it on Thawne.

“Don’t you move Thawne,” Iris commanded. “Barry are you okay?” Iris could see that Barry was struggling to get up and she was grateful that Thawne was so weak from the gun shot wound that he was in no condition to fight Barry. While she carefully kept the gun trained on Thawne she helped Barry stand and put his arm around her waist for support. “Baby, just lean on me I’ll get us out of here,” and as if Cisco had heard her declaration there he was with the Central City Police and Emergency Services behind him. The paramedics rushed to Thawne immediately but all there efforts were in vain because they pronounced him dead. The nightmare was finally over.

 

Barry and Iris were airlifted to the hospital where Caitlin was standing by. Barry had sustained a mild concussion, dislocated shoulder, two broken ribs and the burns on his feet had become infected. Caitlin admitted him to the hospital where he would stay for the next few days, barring there were no complications. Iris had sustained several cuts, skin lacerations and deep bruises along with severe dehydration, she too was admitted to the hospital but only overnight for observation. It was during that night that she snuck out of her room and went to see Barry.

She pulled a chair to his beside and watched him as he slept. She studied his handsome face and watched the rhythm of his breath as his chest rose and fell in peaceful harmony. She was taking this time to reflect on everything they had been through this weekend. This crazy, unbelievable weekend. She was wondering if she was really in love with Barry or was her overwhelming sense of gratitude clouding her judgement. Do people really fall in love over a weekend she asked herself? She sat and pondered, replaying every detail of what had happened over and over, she even allowed herself to remember the horrific moment when she thought Barry had died and the rage filled moment when she almost killed a man in cold blood. And after she processed it all, she knew that they were meant to be, that this man was her destiny. She had never had her heart speak to her about anyone the way it spoke to her about Barry. And then she smiled at the memory of Barry telling her he loved her but then her smiled faded because she wondered if the reason Barry confessed his love to her was because he was about to die, or at least he thought he was. Extreme emotions can make people do all sorts of crazy things, Iris thought to herself. Now that Barry was not facing the eminent threat of harm or death, with a more level head, did he actually really love her? And with the fear that Barry would wake up and realize that he didn’t love her, that he didn’t feel as intensely for her as she did for him, Iris went back to her room and cried herself to sleep.

After a rather restless night Iris was ready to leave the hospital and go home. She wanted to put some distance between her and Barry before they had to have the inevitable discussion of where things stood between them. She dressed in borrowed hospital scrubs, finished her discharge paperwork and went to check on Barry before she left. She peaked into his room and saw he was talking to Caitlin. He was finally awake and Iris took that as an encouraging sign. She backed away from his room and asked the duty nurse if she had a piece of paper and pen she could use to write a note on.

My Dearest Barry, I didn’t want to disturb you while you are recovering from your injuries. The most important thing for you to do is rest and recuperate. You’ve been through such a terrible ordeal. I hope that when you feel up to it you’ll give me a call so that we can discuss everything that has happened between us. Affectionately, Iris

Iris folded the paper in half and asked the nurse if she wouldn’t mind giving it to Barry and with that Iris left the hospital and headed home not really sure about anything.

 

“Ugh, Caitlin enough about me, I feel a little bit better, please tell me how Iris is. Whatever you gave me last night knocked me out, I haven’t seen her since we got to the hospital. How is she, when can I see her,” Barry asked as he sat up further in his bed.

“Barry she’s already left. Dr. Stein examined her this morning while I was tending to an ER patient. He checked her overnight tests and vitals and determined she was well enough to go home. I assumed she had stopped by your room before I got here.” Caitlin felt bad giving Barry that news because the disappointment and disbelief that was on Barry’s face knowing Iris had left was hard for Caitlin to see. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just surprised she left before we could talk. Plus I wanted to make sure Cisco took her home and made sure she was safe. You know what I should call him,” Barry said as he started looking for a phone.

“Barry stop. I talked to Cisco this morning he’s on his way here and he wanted me to tell you that everyone that Thawne was using for his nefarious plans has been arrested and they’re at CCPD right now, Iris is totally safe.”

“That’s a relief,” Barry exhaled as he said it but he was still surprised and hurt that Iris had left before saying at least something to him. He wondered what had happened. After everything they had just been through together he wanted to talk to her about it, about his feelings, about their future. He really didn’t know what to think.

“Mr Allen, Dr Snow sorry to disturb you,” the duty nurse said as she entered the room, “Ms West left this note for you Mr. Allen. I wanted to give it to you before I went to do my rounds.”

“Thank you,” Barry said as he took the note and read it with high anticipation. When he finished reading it he whispered to himself, “No, Iris, the most important thing for me to do is see you.” He looked up and demanded, “Caitlin I need to get out of here.”

“Barry, no way. You’re in no condition to be released from the hospital. I can’t risk the infection from your feet spreading, not to mention your other rather serious injuries.”

“Caitlin please, I have to see her. I have to see Iris. I need to see with my own two eyes that she’s okay. I need to talk to her. I need to hear what she has to say. Please.”

“No, Barry I can’t. You’re not ready. You still……”

“Dammit Caitlin. I’m going to leave whether you……..”

“Okay, before you start threatening me, give me just one more day, ok. One more day of IV antibiotics, checking your vitals and monitoring your condition. If you haven’t taken a turn for the worse or died I will release you tomorrow morning. And that’s it Barry, no discussion.” And with that Caitlin took her clipboard and left. She didn’t want to stand there and argue with Barry who she knew had a stubborn streak a mile wide, especially about something he cared about greatly and Caitlin knew by the look on Barry’s face that he was completely smitten with Iris West.

Barry carefully slid back down in bed, clutching Iris’s note. He wanted to call her right then and talk to her but he also wanted to respect the time and space that she obviously wanted, so he opted to wait and see her in person. There were a million different things running through his mind about Iris and how he felt about her and about the life he was sure he wanted to start with her but there was one pervasive thought that kept going over and over in his mind. He was worried that perhaps Iris didn’t feel the same way about him that he felt about her. Maybe the only reason she told him that she loved him was because of the extremely dire situation they found themselves in. Extreme emotions can make people do all sorts of crazy things, Barry thought to himself. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loved Iris. She really was a dream that had finally come true for Barry and he knew that if he searched the rest of his life there would never be another woman that he would want or love as much as Iris. He couldn’t wait for this day to be over so that he could go and see her and find out if his heart was going to break or going to soar.

 

Iris woke at 8am so happy to finally be back in her own apartment. She wanted coffee and she wanted it extra strong. She didn’t even bother to put her robe on over her short silk nightgown that’s how bad she wanted her coffee. This was the second night in a row that she had not slept well. She hadn’t heard from Barry yesterday and that concerned her. She had no reason to believe that the nurse had not given him the note she left and if had seen it and still didn’t contact her there was only one conclusion she could draw, Barry was trying to find the words to let her know he didn’t love her. The thought of that hurt Iris deeply but in a way she understood. It was because of her and her career that Thawne had almost killed Barry and maybe that was too much for him. Perhaps he didn’t want to share his life with a woman that often courted danger through her investigations and articles. Iris convinced herself that she had to accept that. While she was sure Barry found her attractive & liked her well enough, he probably didn’t want to start a relationship with her and most assuredly he didn’t love her.

As she was about to curl up on the sofa and enjoy her coffee and morning tv her intercom to the outside door of her building rang, “Who could that be,” she whispered as she pressed the “talk” button. “Who is it?”

“Hey Iris, it’s me. It’s Barry.”

“Oh my gosh,” she mouthed to herself. “Hey Barry.”

“Hey Iris.”

“What’s going on? How are you?”

“I’m okay, do you, um, think, I could, maybe come up?”

Iris smacked her forehead. She was so surprised that he was here that she didn’t realize that she didn’t buzz him in. “Yes, of course, yeah. Come on up.”

She buzzed him in and realized that she had about a minute before he was at her door, so she figured she could either change her clothes or comb her hair and brush her teeth. She went for the latter. She ran upstairs put her hair in a cute high bun, brushed her teeth, threw on her short, pink silk robe and ran downstairs just as Barry rang her doorbell. She took a deep breath to slow her breathing and she opened the door and there he was. “Hi Barry.”

“Hi Iris,” Barry said in a low almost sheepish voice.

“Please come in. I just made some coffee, would you like some,” Iris asked as she watched Barry walk into her apartment. She couldn’t help but notice that his feet were heavily bandaged, he had a sling on his arm and he was still pretty pale. She actually wondered if he should be up and around because he looked like he could use a lot more rest.

“No thank you. The only thing that I really want is to talk to you. I would have come sooner but Caitlin wouldn’t release from the hospital until now.”

“I think Caitlin was smart to keep you in the hospital. You look tired Barry, no offense. You could have called, you know,” Iris said as she grabbed her coffee and took another sip.

“I know, but I think what I have to say should be done in person. Or at least the conversation I think we should have should be done in person. Does that make sense?”

“Yes it does,” Iris replied with a heavy heart. From experience Iris knew that most bad or disappointing news was delivered in person. “Maybe we should sit down,” Iris offered and as they made their way to the sofa Iris’s phone rang and she excused herself to answer it.

Barry intently watched Iris as she talked on the phone and he was overwhelmed with feelings of relief, love and fear. Relief that she looked so good. He could rest a bit easier knowing that at least her physical injuries were healing nicely but he had no doubt the emotional trauma would take longer to heal. As she smiled his heart was filled with so much love. She looked so beautiful. Barry lauded what a natural beauty she was, no makeup on, hair in a bun and she was as gorgeous as ever. He really did love this woman. But there was also his fear, fear about how she really felt about him.

“I’m sorry about that,” Iris said as she sat down on the sofa with Barry. “Monday morning always brings a lot of calls. Soooo, about what happened this weekend. I don’t really know where to begin. Barry I….”

“Iris wait, there’s something I want to tell you. I……”

“No, Barry, please, let me say my peace. I think I already know what you’re going to say. This weekend was the epitome of truth is stranger than fiction. I almost died, you almost died, we went through something together that few people could even imagine. Being in that incredibly traumatic and tense situation, it can make our feelings become heightened, do you know what I mean? We might think we have certain feelings but we actually don’t,” Iris said as she stood up and turned away from Barry. She didn’t want him to see the tears that were threatening to fall. “I understand that when you told me you loved me that you thought you were going to die and now that you’ve had time to think about it maybe you don’t feel that way anymore,” Iris let out the deep breath she was holding. “Listen, I think there is an attraction between us and a burgeoning friendship and if that’s all you want, that’s, that’s um, that’s fine with me.” She desperately wanted to turn around to see the expression on his face but she couldn’t bring herself to see what she imagined must be relief on his face that he didn’t have to be the one to tell her that his feelings had changed.

“Iris, can I ask you a question?”

“Yes.”

“Will you please look at me?”

Iris exhaled. This was becoming even more difficult than she anticipated. She knew the moment she looked into Barry’s eyes she was going to cry, hard. “Barry, just ask your question okay.”

Barry stood up and walked over to Iris placing his hand on the small of her back and in a tone no louder than a whisper he said, “Please look at me.” And as if his voice was a magnet to her heart she turned around and as she faced him he took his hand to her delicate chin and lifted her face up so that he could look into her soulful brown eyes. “Do you love me Iris?”

Completely taken aback by the question Iris tried to move away from Barry but with his good arm he gently grabbed her hand and kept her close to him. “Barry, please, I don’t, I can’t, what do you want me to say?”

“I just want the truth, whatever’s in your heart. Do you love me,” he asked again in desperation, holding his breath waiting for her answer.

“Does it matter,” she questioned him.

“It matters to me, you matter to me,” and as he pulled her closer to him he asked her one more time impatience evident in his voice, “Do you love me, yes or no?”

“YES, dammit, yes. I love you. I’m in love with you, which I guess is crazy since I’ve only known you for one weekend, but I’ve never been more sure of anything ever. But I …….”

“Stop. There are no but’s, no if’s, no questions. I’m so head over heels in love with you I can’t think straight, I can’t see straight. I spent all of yesterday worried that you didn’t love me and it was just the circumstances that we found ourselves in that made you say that. I can’t believe we worried about…..”

“The same thing, I guess we’re more connected than I thought,” Iris said as she chuckled. She couldn’t believe it, he was in love with her. She wanted to shout it out and twirl around and share her joy but before any of that she wanted to do what she had longed to do since Barry had walked through door. So with a smile on her face she surged forward to kiss him.

“Ow, Iris, be careful, not all of my parts are working very well right now,” Barry said as he winced in pain.

“Oh no, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, are you okay? I guess I got too excited. I’m sorry,” and with her last apology Iris rose on her tiptoes and very gently kissed Barry’s cheek and then needing to feel him just a little more she gently kissed his lips.

“Hmmm, I like that,” Barry hummed and he decided take over. He put his good arm around her waist and slowly pulled her into him and kissed her with more passion. Then he tilted his head and slightly bent his knees to make up for their height difference and gain better access to her mouth. She loved the feel of him so close and the way his hand stroked her lower back with so much purpose. She was losing herself in kissing him and soon their tongues were doing a dance all on their own. In fact that wasn’t the only thing dancing. Iris pulled away from the kiss as she whispered in his ear, “Ohhh, I feel not all of your body parts are out of commission.” She smiled that smile that Barry found intoxicating and he turned bright red and Iris couldn’t believe how bashful he was all of a sudden.

“Yeah, um, maybe we should take a break. Caitlin said I shouldn’t exert myself for about week and I’m, um, I’m pretty sure that….”

“I’m the exertion type,” Iris said as she finished his thought and guided them both back to the sofa. It was there that they spent the next few hours, talking, cuddling, kissing and lavishing in the love they felt for each other.

“So Iris, since I think this date is one for the record books, let me ask you, what are you doing next weekend?”

Iris laughed out loud so hard and Barry joined her. Through her tears of laughter she told him that she would be his next weekend and every weekend after that and indeed she was. Through dynamic careers, an incredible marriage, two children, six grandchildren and a once in a lifetime love Barry Allen and Iris West spent every weekend together for the rest of their lives. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There it is. My first completed fan fiction work. Did you enjoy it? I hope you did. While the writing process was far more challenging than I thought it would be I think (not sure) but I think I might try to write another one. As always any comments you have are much appreciated and I just want to say that all of the support I have received has really helped me gain confidence in my writing.
> 
> Again, thank you to everyone that took the time to read my story.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, more chapters to come! Please forgive any spelling and grammatical errors. All comments are welcome. Thank you again for taking the time to read my work.


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